4.4% of Mater Dei Hospital’s healthcare workers are currently in quarantine, and 0.33% are positive for Covid-19, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry told The Malta Independent.

The Ministry also said that 6% of Primary Health Care workers are in quarantine, with none of them having tested positive for the Coronavirus.

1.9% of healthcare workers at Mount Carmel Hospital are being kept in quarantine, with 0.39% of the facility’s medical personnel having tested positive for Covid-19.

The Ministry noted that healthcare workers include: General Practitioners, Consultants, Staff Nurses & Midwives, Charge Nurses & Midwives, Practice Nurses, Infection Control & Prevention Nurses, Senior Nursing Managers, Nursing Aides, Health Assistants, Receptionist at Health Centres, Front desk staff, Clerks at Health Centres, Supervisors, Store Keepers, Security Guards & Principal Security Officers, Contractual staff, Podiatrists, Speech Language Pathologist, Physiotherapists, Medical Imaging personnel (Radiology), Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, Maintenance staff, Administrative Staff (Head Office).

The Malta Independent sent questions to the ministry after it was revealed that 24 people who tested positive had contracted the Coronavirus from hospital.

Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci also confirmed during her daily briefing on Tuesday, that 19 healthcare workers from Mater Dei have tested positive for coronavirus since the first case on 7 March.

This newsroom also asked the authorities how many healthcare workers were tested but this question remained unanswered. Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne, however, had posted on his social media that health authorities have increased testing against coronavirus for healthcare staff.

The announcement came after it emerged that a 54-year-old male healthcare worker, who was both at Mater Dei Hospital and Mount Carmel, had tested positive.

Gauci had noted that healthcare workers are present in the community and may also become sick. It is important that workers at a health facility are immediately identified so as they are isolated, in order not to spread the virus further. When such a situation arises, the health authorities carry out detailed contact tracing, to identify who was exposed and the necessary action is taken.