Topmost priority for COVID-19 tests is being given to anyone showing virus symptoms, those who test positive in an antigen test, health workers and people who require care in a residential home, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Tuesday.

Second in priority are family members living in the same house as people who tested positive, and those in direct contact with positive cases. In these cases, people are tested five to seven days from when they were in contact with a positive person, to ensure their viral load is high enough for a test to detect. 

Fearne was replying to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Maria Deguara.

He said people arriving from countries not among Malta’s corridor countries - countries it has declared safe - are also being tested seven to 10 days from arrival, as are people working in schools.

Following those are other people who were in contact with a positive case as well as others who wish to take the test.

Chris Fearne in parliament on Tuesday. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

COVID-19 testing at Mater Dei 

Fearne said that the swabbing centre at Mater Dei Hospital swabbed pre-op patients between 7.30am and 12.30pm. Staff members experiencing symptoms, returning from quarantine or from abroad are swabbed between 10am and 12.30pm. Relatives of staff members are swabbed between 1pm and 3.30pm. People in the community are swabbed after 4pm.

How long does it take to get a COVID-19 test?

As of Sunday, those in the highest priority category were being given an appointment within 24 hours, Fearne said. 

Those in the second priority group received an appointment within four days or as necessary, while those in the third priority group received a test date within seven days.

Hospital staff members were swabbed on the same or the following day. Patients needing to be swabbed because of an intervention or operation were swabbed within the time stipulated by their consultant.

In homes for the elderly, COVID-19 testing is done by nurses working in the homes. Swabs are taken directly to Mater Dei laboratories for analysis.

A total of 9,047 appointments have already been set for between Monday and November 1, Fearne said.