The Medical Association of Malta has said that, “decisive action against Covid-19 with no half measures to protect the Maltese people is expected,” adding that it will reactivate its directives with immediate effect if the expectations of health experts are not met.

In a statement the MAM said that “it is blatantly untrue that Malta has the lowest number of Covid-19 cases but on the contrary, it has the highest number of new cases in the last two weeks per population in the EU, even after excluding migrants arriving by boat.”

It added that, “while there were no deaths to date, as deaths lag 3-6 weeks after turning positive, this fact does not afford much re-assurance.”

MAM said that it is genuinely pre-occupied by the statements of the PM, who, it said, “does not appear to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation for public health and the economy.”

It said that particularly worrisome are “misleading comments which have no basis in science, but have been repeated ad nauseam by the tourism industry.”

While the quoted data on swabbing was statistically correct, The MAM pointed out the reason for swabbing is to control the epidemic, by identifying contacts and isolating them to prevent spread. “Swabbing decreases rather than increases numbers during an epidemic.”

The MAM stressed that the statement that more people die of influenza “is of no consolation to anybody, however every individual in Malta has access to a vaccine making the comparison of influenza with Covid a total nonsense.”

Furthermore, it said, “while the prime minister was on holiday in Sicily three patients were in intensive care, 40 hospitalised, with 11 new cases in care homes. Vulnerable patients must be protected at all costs.”

MAM said that it has made it clear that there is no place at all for discos, bars, parties on land or on sea, or any gathering of any kind for more than 10 standing people, during the peak on an epidemic and these should be closed and/or forbidden with immediate effect.

Furthermore, “mask wearing and social distancing must be made compulsory and enforced emphatically preferably by the police if we want the cases to decrease.”

MAM said that all Maltese citizens returning from abroad should be requested to swab or quarantine on arrival, while tourists should be obliged to swab 72 hours before visiting the island. “This should be to and from all destinations as we should err on the side of caution, and not on the side of profit.”

MAM concluded that it will have to re-activate all its directives as from Tuesday if the government measures “fall short of its expectations.”

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