Cold and flu symptoms could be “masking” COVID-19 positive cases, the Chamber of Pharmacists has warned.

It means that some people are not getting tested and self-isolating because their condition is mild enough to be treated by common products.

The latest variant, Omicron, which has now been detected in Malta, also meant this was even more possible, the chamber said.

Its members have reported that “definitely more cases” that look like the common cold have been seen in the last few weeks. However, it is still less than what they were used to experiencing during past ‘normal’ cold and influenza seasons.

Public health chief Charmaine Gauci also made that point during a press conference on Friday. Many recently-detected COVID cases, she said, reported having a cough and nasal congestion among the symptoms. 

It is envisaged that the influenza surge has still not happened this season, chamber president Mary Ann Sant Fournier pointed out.

“It could be that people who are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms do not test and do not resort to subsequent responsible actions of isolating, especially if symptoms are mild enough to be treated with common cold products,” Sant Fournier said.

The pharmacists advised people to self-isolate and test in the healthcare sites licensed to do so, reminding the public to take all necessary precautions.

In view of the “alarming spike” in infections and record numbers of newly-detected cases, the chamber strongly urged people not to visit pharmacies if ill and symptomatic.

It urged them to abide by the pharmacies’ health and safety instructions to safeguard their staff so that their essential pharmaceutical care services, including the POYC scheme for the elderly and most vulnerable, would continue to be given uninterruptedly as has been the case throughout the pandemic.