Malta has registered a record high number of new positive coronavirus cases. The local health authorities confirmed that after 2,470 swab tests, 106 new cases were detected. This is the highest number of cases registered in 24 hours since the start of the pandemic bringing a total of 2,560 cases; 591 still active, 1,953 patients have recovered and 16 others lost their life.
The Malta Union of Teachers, MUT, is urging the Maltese government to not re-open schools and educational institutions to protect the health of educators, students and their families. Also, the Union of Professional Educators expressed its concern at the increase in numbers of COVID-19 positive cases. It stated that the situation is unsustainable and with the opening of schools on the 28th of September 2020, the number of cases will defiantly increase to unsustainable numbers thus putting a burden on our health care system. The Maltese Association of Parents of State School Students has warned that the reopening of schools would be “premature” and should be postponed. The association representing parents of state school students also called on the Maltese authorities to take the necessary actions to control the spread of the virus as there was “clear evidence that the spread of COVID is not slowing down”. “It is evident that the measures taken so far have not been effective enough,” it said.
Meanwhile, in a paper published in the Journal of Community Health, five medical professionals, including Superintendent of Public Health, Professor Charmaine Gauci declared that inconsistent messages earlier in summer from sectors “outside health” claiming that “everything is under control” gave false signals that COVID-19 was over.
Superintendent of Public Health described the present situation as “serious and worrying”. While the number of people treated in hospitals has increased, over the past few days many elderly residents in different care homes have contracted COVID-19. The Ministry for Family together with the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Elderly have issued a set of measures to be adhered to at all homes for the elderly. The residential care homes are also using staff-to-patient allocation and creating safe zones on each storey as well as taking other measures aimed at controlling the infection and residents who test negative are being tested again every three days.
(ITALPRESS/MNA).
