Covid-19 under control and no case of Monkeypox in Malta

COVID is under a good control and there have been no cases of monkeypox in Malta. Those who are older than 50 years old are protected from monkeypox.

Chris Fearne, Malta's Minister of Health, said on Thursday that the situation with COVID-19 is still very well under control, despite the fact that almost all prohibitions have been withdrawn.

He also stated that there are no instances of monkeypox in Malta and warned against becoming alarmed even if cases of the disease are discovered.

After a few days of having nobody there, Fearne said that there is now just one COVID-19 patient receiving critical care at Mater Dei Hospital. This was in response to questioning from the media.

According to the minister, "the situation is very much under control, as well as the immunity continues to be extremely excellent."

The most recent official numbers, which were issued earlier on Thursday, revealed that there were 1,556 active cases and 90 new cases of COVID-19.

The minister said that more than 30,000 persons aged over 65 had already received the second booster dosage, and he urged everyone who has been invited to do so to go ahead and do so.

The Monkeypox virus is not COVID.

Turning to the topic of monkeypox, Fearne said that there had been no verified instances reported in Malta and that he regretted the actions of "one or two" persons in the media who had unnecessarily scared people.

Although the health officials were adequately equipped for it, he emphasized that "monkeypox is not COVID." He said that chickenpox was the most similar illness to monkeypox.

The symptoms of monkeypox infection are similar to those of chickenpox and include fever and a rash that affects the hands and face.

Fearne said that despite this, the government took the issue into consideration and had been making preparations for it in labs as well as in the process of purchasing medications, particularly anti-viral, by utilizing the European procurement approach.

According to him, even if there were instances of monkeypox, the situation would be the same as it is with chickenpox. People above the age of 50 were presumably immune to monkeypox since the vaccination against smallpox, which has since been eliminated, was administered to everyone born before 1972. This vaccine conferred protection against monkeypox.