Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia has denied Opposition Leader Adrian Delia's request for Parliament to suspend the agenda to discuss updates on the COVID-19 virus.

"I do not need to explain why this discussion is important, there is not one single Maltese person who is not concerned about the Coronavirus, this is urgent and we need an immediate discussion," explained Delia while making his appeal.

Delia said that it is extremely important to have the space to debate and discuss about the situation. "As the Opposition we want to contribute as much as possible and wish to work together," he said.

Delia highlighted that it is not enough that the party's shadow health minister, Stephen Spiteri is briefed by Health Minister Chris Fearne regarding the discussions with the Public Health Authorities.

"We need to have a proper discussion, I want our people, children and elderly safe," said Delia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne said that he was pleased to see that the Opposition party takes interest in the virus and that he always keeps shadow minister Spiteri updated. He also invited Delia to meet him if needed to discuss the Coronavirus situation.

He refuted claims that the government did not want to debate the matter, saying that in Parliament he had made a statement about the virus and replied to questions earlier in the week.

Fearne claimed that Delia's reason for the request was really to prevent Parliament from debating a motion submitted by MP Chris Said, who was his opponent in the PN Leadership election back in 2017.

Said argued that the debate on the virus is more important.

In his ruling, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said that since the coronavirus outbreak was discussed over the past couple of days and there are constant updates, there is no need to suspend the agenda.