Malta’s Health Authorities are working on a transition strategy to begin reintroducing elective surgeries, Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci told Lovin Malta.

Non-essential elective surgeries were shutdown just as Malta was gearing up for an outbreak of COVID-19 in the country in order to free up space and not overburden the healthcare sector.

However, with the number of active cases steadily declining and the number of patients in the ITU standing at just one, some have begun to ask whether elective surgeries should start once again.

Gauci stressed that this would need to be reintroduced carefully. She explained that, regardless of the drop, contingency strategies within healthcare facilities will still be in place.

A second wave, she said, could emerge at any moment and healthcare facilities need to be readily prepared to effectively deal with an outbreak as it has done so dar.

“It’s a step by step process,” she said.

The total number of active cases is now down to 241, after one new case and 39 recoveries were confirmed this morning. The Ħal Far open centre remains the centre’s hotspot for the virus with 43 cases.

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne has said that some restrictive measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 could be lifted in the coming days. Malta’s rate of infection, known as the R0 factor, has dropped below one.