[WATCH] Four new COVID-19 cases, of which three from Ħal Far detention centre

A total of four new cases of COVID-19 have been registered overnight, three of which involved residents of the Ħal Far detention centre.

The three persons resident at the Ħal Far tent village have been in quarantine, along with the rest of the people in the detention centre.

The new cases were found after 574 swab tests were carried out in the past 24 hours. Today's low number follows a similar trend of only a handful of daily new cases being detected over the past few days.

Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci noted that the number of peope coming forward for tests during weekends was relatively low, and she emphasised that anyone having symptoms should speak up, regardless what day of the week it was.

She also urged people not to miss their testing appointments.

An additional eight persons have recovered from the virus, Gauci said.

She said that of the 431 cases registered to date, 302 remain actively infected, 126 had recovered and three had died.

Virus trend modelling ongoing

Asked by the press whether Malta had reached its peak in terms of new COVID-19 cases, Gauci said that varying numbers of cases were still being registered. "Therefore, our viral modelling is still ongoing," she said.

Questioned by MaltaToday whether Malta was looking at an antiviral drug called Remdesivir, which is showing promise in the fight against the coronavirus, Gauci said the authorities were considering various new drugs.

A number of patients have been given multi-combination drug therapy in this regard, she said.

Gauci reiterated her call for people to continue obeying social distancing measures. "If you don't need to go out, stay home," she said.