[WATCH] Nine new COVID-19 cases, total 393 as Gauci warns 'no indication Malta has reached peak'

Malta registered nine cases of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the total to 393, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said.

The total includes three deaths and 44 recoveries since the pandemic started in March.

Gauci said 1,051 swab tests were carried out overnight, bringing the total number of tests to 19,121.

The nine new cases include a 71-year-old pensioner and three migrants resident at the Hal Far open centre aged 23, 18 and 25.

A 34-year-old woman who works as a carer at an old people's home was confirmed positive as part of the screening process before she entered the home. She did not have any contact with the elderly.

The other new cases were of a 50-year-old female, a 48-year-old male, a 30-year-old male, and a 23-year-old British woman. In each case contact tracing is taking place.

No indication peak has been reached

Gauci said Malta's current rate of infection, known as the R factor, stands at 1.5, which is below the global average of 2.2 for COVID-19. This means that an infected person in Malta can transmit the virus to one-and-a-half persons.

Gauci said the health authorities were working to further reduce the transmission rate. "This depends greatly on the social distancing and isolation measures in place," she said, urging people to remain indoors as much as possible and avoid contact with others.

She insisted that despite the single-digit numbers registered over the past few days, there was "no indication that Malta has reached its peak".

"We know that there may be other positive cases out there that we do not know of. In some instances we cannot identify the source of the infection, which means community transmission is happening, which is my social distancing remains important," she insisted.

Migrants open centres

Gauci said the three new cases of residents at the Hal Far open centre were discovered through random testing of the more than 1,000 people who live there.

In each case, the individuals with COVID-19 are isolated within the centre and given the treatment they need.

Asked about the Marsa open centre, she said there have been no cases registered there so far and symptom screening is taking place as a preventive measure.

Prison overcrowding

Gauci said various preventive measures were taken inside the prison, including regular monitorring for fever and improved personal hygiene. She said a place was identified within the building where potential cases of COVID-19 among prisoners could be isolated from the rest.

She was non-commital on overcrowding at the Corradino Correctional Facility, which sees almost half of the cells occupied by two people or more.

No prisoner or employee has so far registered positive for coronavirus.