Products are extremely expensive, with packets of five face masks running as high as €160, although the site claims these have been heavily discounted by up to €50, a curious detail considering many Maltese pharmacies have run out of masks entirely. Apparently all the masks are out of stock, although some goggles and gloves are still available. There are barely any details on the products at all and, for example, the description of the €42 pair of goggles simply reads ‘reduces risk of coronavirus infection’.

The admins of the Facebook group, which has around 33,000 members, defended their decision to promote this page.

“We have accepted this particular advert, due to the fact that pharmacies are selling one piece of surgical mask for 7 euro, meanwhile this source offers them at a much lower price per piece,” it said. “Aside from that, [it] is the only reliable source of masks including N95 that are in Malta.”

“Several members of the group have informed us that the masks were delivered on the same day. There will be no supply, please disinfect and reuse even the simple masks.”

However, many people have already flagged this page as a blatant con, intended to fleece money from people scared as a result of disinformation posted by the admins of that same Facebook group.

Meanwhile, leading Maltese virologist Chris Barbara has played down concerns over the new coronavirus strain, COVID-19.

“We should absolutely not be worried about COVID-19. I have been handling viruses for years on end and many more dangerous viruses. We’ve had coronaviruses around for many years, like the common cold,” Dr Chris Barbara explained during an interview with Crisis Teams Malta.

“If people are terrified of COVID-19, why aren’t they scared of influenza which is killing more people,”