The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) in a statement on Sunday, highlighted the fact that there are currently 15 Covid-19 patients are in the ITU at Mater Dei, when last week there were 6.

The union said that it is “alarmed and seriously preoccupied” that patient numbers in ITU are “increasing exponentially.” The number of ITUs at MDH have already increased from 2 to 6, it said

The union warned that “this is just the tip of the iceberg since winter has not even started and more cases would be expected.”

“The general public should stop having social gathering in their own homes, stop inviting relatives and adhere more rigorously to social distancing and other measures,” MUMN said.

“It would be wise for people to stop mixing and having parties in their private homes or other areas, it added.”

“Nobody wants a lockdown, including the nurses and all healthcare workers,” the union said, “but if the hospital is overwhelmed with patients, then all freedom and entertainment would be lost.”

“The number of Covid-19 positive patients are increasing at a very high rate in MDH and the nurses/doctors are doing their utmost to cope with the huge demand that such admissions are bringing about, MUMN said.

“Mater Dei’s management have increased the staff in the ITU by deploying more nurses from the relieving pool,” the union said. “This implies that with the depletion of nurses from the relief pool, MDH does not have enough nurses to open new areas if the admissions to MDH continue to increase.”

MUMN warned that “the depletion of nurses from the relief pool placed the MDH management in such a position that no nurses are now available to be deployed in areas such as MDH corridors or wards which already have depleted staff and need the support of more nurses.”

It added that these areas include those taken from the University of Malta to care for Covid-19 positive patients.

MUMN appealed to the Health Division, saying that with “all the boasting that 200 nurses are to be employed soon by the Health Minister, only 5 nurses have been employed in MDH.”

The union warned that “this is not the time of theatrical tactics as this is literally a life and death situation.”

“The Health Minister is to keep his word and deliver the promised 200 nurses much needed to MDH,” the MUMN said, “since MDH nurses are already working under high stress conditions due to a staff shortage.”

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