Updated 4.10pm, adds Union of Cabin Crew statement

Malta will not be stopping flights from Italy’s northern region, which has been sealed off over coronavirus fears, until it is advised to do so by the World Health Organisation, the health authorities have said.

There are so far three known Covid-19 cases in Malta: a 12-year-old Italian girl and her parents were confirmed on Saturday.

A health spokeswoman told Times of Malta there have been no additional positive cases since then.

“So far 200 tests have been performed on people who reported symptoms of fever and cough within 14 days of coming from an affected country, and of these only three tested positive.

"An additional 244 of random swabs from respiratory screens at Mater Dei Hospital have also tested negative. These figures are continuously changing.”

The three who tested positive live in Malta but were recently on holiday in Trentino. They returned to Malta from Rome and were in self-quarantine.

Fellow passengers being traced 'as additional precaution' 

The spokeswoman said the health authorities are still tracing and contacting people who shared the same flight with them “as an additional precaution”.

The child was not symptomatic during the flight, she added.

On Sunday, the Italian government locked down the Lombardy region, practically putting a quarter of the population in quarantine.

People will be barred from entering or leaving vast areas of northern Italy without a serious and urgent reason to do so, according to a decree signed off by the prime minister overnight and published online.

This has reportedly seen people ‘fleeing’ the region on trains.  

These quarantine zones are home to more than 15 million people and include the regions around Venice and financial capital Milan.

'WHO not recommending stopping flights'

Malta too has faced pressure to ban flights from northern Italy.

In a statement on Sunday, the Union of Cabin Crew said its members were worried about the situation since they were the first point of interaction with travellers onboard flights from high-risk countries.

"Although our community adopts the precautions suggested by the Health Authorities, we strongly think that it is of high risk to our members and their families continuing to operate flights to high-risk countries such as northern Italy."

"While passengers arriving from these countries are being asked to self-quarantine, the crew return home only to return to work the next day as if they are operating a flight in a normal scenario."

The union pleaded with the authorities to stop flights operating to high-risk countries not only for the benefit of its members but also in the national interest.

Earlier, doctors reiterated their call to stop incoming passengers, saying the situation in Italy was grievous with the epidemic spreading like wildfire.

They said that the World Health Organisation’s failure to recommend travel bans had resulted in a global pandemic.

The health ministry spokeswoman told Times of Malta that the Maltese authorities have been following the advice of WHO. 

The organisation was not recommending stopping flights: “we will continue to follow the situation. Travellers coming from affected areas are being advised to self-quarantine and monitor for symptoms."

Coronavirus: Your questions, answered

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