The efficacy of measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 depends on public compliance, Health minister Chris Fearne said. 

Asked by Times of Malta whether containment measures were working during a press conference on Wednesday, Fearne said that the government had written mitigation measures into law in response to rising case numbers and that citizens had an obligation to follow those laws. 

“We understand that globally the pandemic has grown and edging towards the winter months the situation has become more difficult as was anticipated,” Fearne said. 

“The government, more than suggests, has written into law what measures need to be followed in response. But this depends on all of us and in the coming weeks, especially in the lead up to Christmas. It’s excessively important that everyone is responsible and that the measures that the government has put into place are obeyed.”

“It is essential that our health services, not only those which are COVID-19 related, continue to operate and that we keep schools and workplaces open. 

The minister was inaugurating a refurbished health centre in Għaxaq. While the village core premises previously housed the services of a doctor and a nurse, services have been expanded to include a speech pathologist, podiatry and physiotherapy service as well as a nutritionist. 

The renovated health centre oversees services for around 5,000 citizens. The project was partially financed through NSDF funds. 

Answering press questions, Fearne provided more information about the Good Samaritan facility that is currently housing 23 COVID-19 patients who had previously resided in nursing homes. 

The St Paul’s Bay facility can house up to 60 people and an official inauguration is expected next week.

All patients currently being cared for at the facility are in good condition, Fearne said. 

Fearne also said that a tender to open a new privately operated coronavirus testing hub would likely be adjudicated on Wednesday and is expected to start operating next week at a location in the south of the island. 

A second testing hub is also expected to open next week at the airport, which will deploy rapid testing kits to fund and isolate as many positive passengers as possible.

Asked when another batch of influenza vaccinations are to be expected, the minister said that the goal was to have another 100,000 people vaccinated between November and December, starting in mid-November.

Fearne said that the initial uptake of the flu shot had far exceeded the demand of the previous year and a further 50,000 doses had been ordered to meet the demand, bringing the total to 250,000 vaccines, expected to be administered by the end of the year.

Photo: Omar Camilleri, DOI

“It’s not wise to have the entire population vaccinated in one go because of herd immunity,” Fearne said. 

“The vaccine has a time limit on how effective it remains which begins to wane over time, so it’s important to support herd immunity by vaccinating different groups of people at different times.”

Asked whether temporary licenses would be issued to establishments licensed as snack bars to be able to serve alcohol to patrons, Fearne said that the legal notice was clear and its current obligations on entertainment establishment would remain in place.

Restaurants will be allowed to serve food and alcohol during meal times, snack bars may serve food till 11pm, while bars have to remain closed, he said.