Following a request by Gozitan Nationalist MPs, an urgent meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Gozo Affairs took place yesterday to discuss with representatives from the various authorities, the developments on Covid-19 in Gozo.

An appeal was made to the Superintendent of Health Prof Charmaine Gauci to update the public on the number of active cases in Gozo in her weekly Covid-19 briefings, to “avoid misinformation and rumours,” this request was accepted.

The PN said that, from Steward Health Care – Dr Nadine Delicata Mr Joseph Fenech, advised that the elderly from the Sant’ Anna Residence will continue to reside in a hotel in Victoria, where they were transferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Opposition MPs voiced their concern about the lack of clarity as to the reasons why some elderly people were transferred to the hotel and others were left in hospital.

The MPs added that it also emerged from the discussion that “there are no certainties about when the new hospital which was promised by Steward Health Care, will start and even more so when it will be completed.”

During the discussions, the Opposition MPs said that it was noted that it “was solely a Government decision that instead of bringing across Gozitan nurses working in Malta to work in the Gozo General Hospital as is usually the case, they brought in foreign nurses instead from abroad.”

Yesterday’s meeting also raised other points of concerns, the PN said. “In fact, it has been confirmed that the only checks being undertaken against the movement of Covid-19 are being carried out on passengers arriving in Gozo by Gozo Channel ferries, but not on those passengers arriving in Gozo by other means, such as the private boats that arrive over the summer season.

It was also confirmed, the PN said, that “the Police, so important in maintaining order in the school grounds, are not yet being consulted now that the same schools are about to open, when full coordination between all is needed, including the Police.”

“Despite these concerns, on which the Nationalist Opposition will continue to work to find solutions,” the PN said that it “cannot fail to express its satisfaction that at its suggestion, the meeting was held for the first time in Gozo and not from the Parliament building as usual.” Yesterday’s meeting was held at the Innovation Hub in Xewkija.

“A parliamentary meeting in Gozo is a historic step for our country which, above all, allows for a closer dialogue with Gozitans and therefore it is hoped that such meetings in Gozo will be repeated in the future,” the PN said.

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