The Nationalist Party in a statement said, “it has still not had its questions answered by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Gozo and Steward Health Care about preparations for Covid-19 at the Gozo General Hospital.”

“This is causing unrest and uncertainty among Gozitans, particularly now, with the positive cases found in the Gozo hospital,” said PN.

PN stated that the 120 promised beds to be added at Gozo General Hospital “do not yet exist, and asked, “when will they be ready, and “are there enough doctors, nurses and staff to be able to take care of patients when they are added and if needed?”

The PN pointed out that the number of staff do not appear to have increased and no new staff are being trained at Gozo General Hospital and a number of existing staff are quarantined.

“Why are the elderly in the Santa Anna unit still at the hospital instead of being taken to a hotel in Victoria as had been advised, why all this delay?” The PN asked.

While the PN commended the initiative taken by the Bishop of Gozo and the Gozitan clergy to raise funds for a ventilator for Gozo General Hospital, it reiterated the questions previously asked of the Government about how many ventilators there are.

The PN also asked why there are so many questions from the nurses and doctors about the protective clothing that has been provided as well as about training and protocol to be used at the Gozo General Hospital?

“While we appreciate that the effort has been made and the number of swabs being taken in Gozo has increased and compares well to the number taken in Malta, we insist that the tests should be carried out in Gozo’s own laboratory in order not to waste valuable time,” said the PN.

The measures to address safe premises for ambulance drivers has still not been addressed. PN asked “why Civil Protection workers in Gozo are situated in two bases, but ambulances and other hospital transport is not?”

“We would like to offer our full collaboration at this time, but will continue to insist on clear answers to these questions as Gozitans deserve to have answers and reassurance that preparations have been made.”

The statement was signed by Chris Said, Frederick Azzopardi and Kevin Cutajar.

Photo by Anthony Zammit

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