The closure of the Simblija private home for the elderly in Naxxar has raised fresh concerns over the resurfacing of Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the 153-bed care home told families that it will be closing its doors to visitors for seven days, as it had detected several cases of Covid-19 among the residents.
The care home did not divulge how many residents tested positive for the virus, but reports have indicated that only residents showing symptoms are being tested.
“We are in constant communication with the health authorities and all measures that have been implemented are in accordance with the health authorities’ Covid-19 standard policies and procedures and are endorsed by them,” a spokesperson told various newsrooms.
The pandemic has greatly impacted countries globally, from destroying economies to causing millions of deaths worldwide. With the rollout of vaccines against the virus, the average person in Malta has almost forgotten that the virus is still among us.
However, it has been observed recently that more people have been wearing masks inside public establishments, such as supermarkets. It seems as if people are concerned once again about the contagious virus, of which several variants have been emerging in parts of the world.
A new Omicron variant, with the scientific name XBB.1.5, is causing concerns as it has been spreading like wildfire across some countries. The United Nations health agency even deemed it as the “most transmissible subvariant detected yet”.
The new mutation has been circulating in at least 38 countries including Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Germany and France. So far, there have been no reports of the strain reaching Malta.
As of 19 January, there are 317 active cases in Malta, bringing the total number of cases to 116,894; 823 people died due to the virus thus far, six of them since the start of the New Year.
Last week, Health Minister Chris Fearne said that while Covid-19 is still among us, the numbers are under control. At the time, there were nine people in hospital being treated for Covid-19, and none in the ITU.
Fearne also said that Covid-19 is not a pandemic anymore but urged people to remain vigilant and continue taking the vaccine.
Malta has also imposed restrictions on travellers arriving from China, after a recent surge in the number of cases was registered in the country. Travellers arriving from China now need to produce a negative Covid-19 rapid antigen test to be allowed into Malta. This became effective from 9 January.
The new provision was announced in a legal notice published by the Superintendent of Public Health, in light of other countries who also introduced restrictions on travellers from China.
This was the first time since July of last year that Malta has imposed restrictions on its borders. The notice follows a meeting of European Union experts which “strongly encouraged” EU countries to demand Covid-19 tests from passengers coming from China.
The government started its rollout of the vaccine against the virus in December 2020, having successfully implemented the strategy and reaching herd immunity by the summer of 2021.