Coronavirus: ‘Completely fake that we are expecting 30 positive cases,’ Health Ministry says

Rumours being spread on social media, claiming that the health authorities are expecting 30 positive cases of coronavirus are “completely fake”, MaltaToday has been told.

All afternoon the country has been awash with a rumour that doctors at Mater Dei Hospital had recorded 30 or more new cases of coronavirus.

The information, purportedly coming from an unnamed hospital worker, was later given the stamp of authority by a Facebook-based news portal called 4Malta that quoted an anonymous OPM official confimring 35 cases. However, the report also had the tagline "not confirmed yet".

When asked about these reports, Roberta Fenech, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry flatly denied the information.

“We are definitely not expecting 30 cases or more. This is completely fake,” Fenech told MaltaToday.

The 'news' reported by a Facebook-based portal has been rubbished by the health authorities

The authorities are not expecting any spike in cases from the batch of tests carried out this afternoon for Covid-19.

On Thursday morning, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to nine.

All cases so far were contracted abroad and no local transmission has been recorded.

The government today announced a raft of measures to help prevent the spread of the virus, including a week-long closure of all schools, university and child care centres, starting from tomorrow.