Coronavirus: 22 tests for virus in Malta come back negative
Updated 4.50pm
A total of 22 people have been tested for the coronavirus in Malta and all have tested negative for the virus.
Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci and Mater Dei CEO Celia Falzon urged calm in the latest updated on COVID-19.
While it has continued to spread in Italy and the rest of Europe, they said nobody has tested positive for the virus in Malta.
They said 22 people exhibiting symptoms that prompted the health authorities to test them for it.
They said the country was prepared for the virus if a case is reported, Ms Falzon said the country was in a "crucial" containment phase.
She insisted that while the health authorities were trained and ready to handle COVID-19 cases, there main priority at present was containment and that was why quarantines were so important.
The hospital CEO dismissed the nurses’ union’s concerns that the country was not prepared for a potential outbreak. On training for nurses, Ms Falzon said first respondents from the emergency room as well as staff at the ITU and the Infectious Diseases Unit had already received training and more nurses will be trained in the coming days.
On whether the authorities would be imposing...