The Superintendent for Public Health has insisted that Mater Dei Hospital, or any healthcare facility, is in “no way compromised” despite the news that the first three locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were healthcare workers.

Speaking to Lovin Malta, Charmaine Gauci stressed that the three had only contracted the virus when they had come into contact with a fourth healthcare worker who had got infected while on a trip to Dublin, Ireland.

“It is no different than people catching it with someone they live with,” she said.

However, several medical professionals have since been sent home over the news. Gauci has so far described their contact with patients as minimal.

There are concerns that several people who returned from countries which were not placed on the high-risk area list, like Dublin, did not follow quarantine measures and went into work. It seems that the first locally transmitted case was a result of this.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne explained that authorities would use lecture halls, several wards, and a part of the emergency department to increase halls for COVID-19 patients.

This would increase the total bed capacity for COVID-19 patients to 680 in both Malta and Gozo.

Isolation wards outside of Mater Dei are also going to grow, with Paul Boffa Hospital being cleared out to make room. However, the news and a further spread of the virus among healthcare workers could rethink this option.

If you believe you are suffering from the coronavirus, follow these guidelines:

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people, as you would with the flu.

Do not go to Mater Dei, the emergency department, health centres, private clinics, or pharmacies. Stay home and call the public health authority’s helpline 111.

If you are returning from any country, do not break self-quarantine rules or you will be subject to a €1,000 fine.

You can call +356 21324086 for advice.

Avoid calling 112 unless it is a real emergency. That emergency line is crucial in saving lives in peril, and having it be flooded with calls on the coronavirus could have fatal consequences.