Charmaine Gauci to return with COVID-19 briefings from Castille

Charmaine Gauci will return to television screens with a weekly update on COVID-19, this time from the Prime Minister’s office at Castille, MaltaToday has learnt.

She starts Friday.

The Public Health Superintendent made a name for herself with daily briefings for almost three months to update the nation on the state of the coronavirus pandemic in Malta.

In the middle of May, briefings were reduced to three times a week and stopped completely in June when Malta lifted the state of emergency.

But now, as Malta faces a surge of COVID-19 cases, Gauci is expected to return with her briefings after Prime Minister Robert Abela put forward the suggestion.

Government is facing growing criticism over its handling of the situation in the face of the latest surge of cases and its reluctance to ban mass events.

Abela is also facing internal flak over his over-enthusiasm to remain positive, despite widespread concerns that are not adequately being addressed.

Doctors started taking industrial action from today and nurses will follow tomorrow after government refused to ban mass events outright. Both unions have insisted that mitigation measures introduced this week on mass activities are not enough.

Sources close to government said Gauci’s return for weekly briefings will ensure the correct information is disseminated. She will also answer any questions journalists may have.

Gauci's daily COVID-19 bulletins at 12:30pm were followed closely with a Broadcasting Authority survey last month showing that TV audiences in March shot up by 18.2% when compared to the previous survey in November.