Instantly Isolate Yourself If You Or A Relative Test Positive, Charmaine Gauci Pleads As Family Clusters Now Biggest In The Country
Malta’s most devastating week for COVID-19 numbers yet has ended with Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci pleading the nation for people to instantly isolate themselves from everyone if they test positive… especially in the light of the country’s current biggest cluster.
Since 4th July, family clusters have accounted for 479 cases, but it was this last week where things really went into overdrive. In fact, as explained by Gauci during today’s weekly press briefings, 165 of this week’s new cases were all related to family clusters.
This means family clusters now account for the highest amount of both old and new cases in the last four months, even higher than other large clusters like nursing homes (219 + 1), gatherings (121 + 14), and even Paceville and bars (99 + 11).
“The biggest problem we’re seeing are family clusters,” Gauci said. “And I want to draw your attention to this here.”
“As soon as we call you to say this is a positive case, it’s important for this person to instantly go into isolation. And even family members need to go into quarantine.”
“But we need to also be careful to take all the necessary precautions while we’re all together,” Gauci continued. “Sometimes people tell us, ‘Oh well, I’ve already been exposed to that person while they were waiting for their test result’. Yes, true, but we know that this virus’ exposure is cumulative.”
“If you’re going to keep exposing yourself to this virus, you’re inrcreasing your chances of being infected,” Gauci bluntly stated. “So as soon as a family member is positive, the rest of the family members need to take precautions to not be so exposed.”
“The person who tests positive needs their own bedroom and bathroom,” Gauci explained. “Where this is not possible, the bathroom needs to be properly cleaned every time the person uses it.”
“Even when it’s time to eat, these people who test positive should not be eating along with everyone else in the household,” Gauci stressed. “As much as possible, the food needs to be sent to the person in the room they’re staying in.”
“Thanks to these measures, we can reduce these substantial amounts of infections that we’re saying among Malta’s families in their own house,” Gauci said.
“We know how this virus is contracted by now. That’s why we need to practise physical distancing. You’re ideally at least two metres away from people.”
Gauci also made reference to the worrying increases in workplace clusters, which saw 40 new cases just last week alongside a total of 156 infections.
“Let’s also avoid crowds,” Gauci continued. “We have laws in place and yet we’re still seeing crowds. And even more evidence in favour of mask wearing and its effectiveness keeps coming out.” Gauci then followed this up by saying it’s of course useless to wear a mask if you don’t wear it properly, a phenomenon which is sadly still far too common in Malta.
Malta has just recorded yet another record-breaking day of new COVID-19 cases, with 122 infections registered overnight following 112 and 111 new virus patients in the last two days. The island’s current active cases now stand at 1,095 people.
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