President: Follow all directives and advice given by the health authorities

President George Vella has called on the public to follow directives and advice given by the health authorities.

In a statement, Vella expressed his solidarity with those affected and wished a speedy recovery to all victims of the virus. 

Vella called for the public not to panic, however, he advised that every precaution should be made to minimise the risk of the virus spreading.  

Vella also called for directives to be put into place for personal hygiene, for travel not to be permitted, and regulations to prevent the convening of large groups of people.

Vella also warned that all meetings and events he was due to attend will be postponed to a later date.

He also showed his appreciation, on behalf of the Maltese and Gozitan people, to professional and technical workers who bear the responsibility to prepare Malta for an outbreak which includes teaching people what measures to take, early detections for the ill as well as the necessary attention that will need to be given to anyone affected by the virus.

Vella also expressed solidarity with Malta’s business sector, and other sectors affected negatively due to the virus, which will, in turn, have a heavy impact on the Maltese economy.

Vella also highlighted that the rate of survival was very high and that people should keep that in mind.

As of 12 March, there have been worldwide 126,625 cases of the coronavirus, with 4,638 deaths and 68,325 people having recovered from the virus. In Malta, there have been nine reported cases, with the latest being reported on Thursday morning. 

On Wednesday the WHO declared that the coronavirus was a pandemic. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold over the past two weeks.

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