Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1251774
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 MAY 2020 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI PUBLIC Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci has dubbed the Floriana championship celebra- tions on Monday as "worrying" for the health au- thorities and urged anybody who develops symp- toms to get in touch. "The regulation which restricts group gatherings to six people are there for a reason, we are still not out of it just yet," she warned when contacted by MaltaToday. On Monday, Floriana FC were declared Premier League champions for this year's football season, after a decision by the Malta Football Association council. The league was awarded on the basis of the league table when the tournament was stopped. Soon after the decision was made public, social distancing rules were put on the back-burner after an unstoppable wave of Floriana supporters made their way to the Granaries to celebrate their 26th league title after a drought of 27 years. The celebration sparked outrage on social media, with people calling out the authorities for the lack of policing in controlling the crowds. "It is dangerous to have large groups of people who have not met regularly over the past three months to congregate in such numbers," Gauci said. She insisted the virus is still in the communi- ty, and yesterday's celebrations could mean that COVID-19 could have been transmitted between those attending. She also said that vulnerable people could have been present, making it even more dangerous for them. "We could also have had a situation where people who attended could have taken the virus back home and transmitted it to their family mem- bers," she added. In recent weeks, authorities started conducting random testing on vulnerable groups in order to identify asymptomatic and hidden cases among the community. Asked if random testing would be conducted among those who attended, Gauci said it would be impossible to identify all those who were present. "We must remember that those in attendance yes- terday hailed from different regions of Malta, and it would be impossible to track down everyone," Gauci said. She also insisted it would be of utmost impor- tance for anyone who attended the celebrations to call the COVID-19 helpline on 111 if symptoms emerged in the coming days. "We are here to help, people should come forward immediately if symp- toms emerge," she said. Floriana FC secretary-general Dione Borg told other press on Monday morning that celebrations were not organised by the club, stating it had urged supporters to stay home. Borg said the minute he saw people congregat- ing, he made announcements on a microphone for people to spread out. "When we saw that this was not working, we closed the club and asked police to intervene," he said. The celebrations were also condemned by one of the constituted bodies. The Chamber of Commerce called the behaviour "irresponsible and deplorable". "This lack of discipline is a slap in the face of the country's health workers who for the last months have been working round the clock to control the situation to the best of their abilities," it said. Charmaine Gauci: Floriana championship celebrations 'worrying' for health authorities The Public Health Superintendent says people who attended the Floriana FC celebrations on Monday and who develop symptoms in the coming days should contact the health authorities immediately A pair of fraternal twins who pleaded guilty to mugging five el- derly persons have been jailed. Paul and Roderick Scicluna, both 40 had been arraigned in January, accused of several counts of aggravated theft. The accused had pleaded guilty at an early stage in the proceed- ings. Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, noted the guilty plea, taking into account the serious nature of the crimes with which the accused were being found guilty. "These are cowardly crimes carried out on the most vulnera- ble of people; senior citizens who have little to no capacity to offer resistance, and this to finance the accused's destructive drug habit," she said in her ruling. The court weighed the men's early admission against their criminal records. Noting that Paul Scicluna had been jailed in 2018 for two thefts, it said the charge of recidivism only applied to him. Roderick Scicluna had been en- couraged to commit the crimes by his brother, the court had heard, but this notwithstanding, it said that at 40 years of age, Roder- ick was not a boy and could think for himself. Both men were found guilty of theft aggravated by violence committed on a person over 60 – crimes which are punishable by up to nine years of imprisonment. The court did not apply the maximum sentence, however, in view of the men's early guilty plea, Roderick Scicluna was jailed for 38 months, while Paul Scicluna, who alone had also been charged with holding persons against their will, was jailed for 54 months and fined €116.47. The court also imposed a three- year restraining order in favour of the victims. Twins jailed over muggings on elderly victims