“Good but definitely not good enough” is how the Medical Association of Malta described the government’s new measures relating to mass gatherings, saying that they will go ahead with their planned industrial action.

“MAM welcomes the fact the government authorities are now acknowledging the problem with mass events, however the suggested measures do not go far enough. MAM thanks Mr. Fearne and Dr. Gauci for their efforts, but it is clear that the party promoters, have had their way with the politicians as this will not protect the Maltese public at all”, the MAM said in a statement.

“MAM is reasonably informed that public health specialists were not consulted and have been presented with a fait accomplit in which their advice was not sought”, they added.

The MAM said that they are very disappointed that mass events with thousands of revellers have not been cancelled and the government intends to forge ahead as planned, making band marches the sacrificial lamb – with the MAM thanking the Archbishop for his stand in this regard.

“The fact that no regulations are going to be published and no fines have been announced, and that the organisers are encourage to self-enforce will not work in practice”, they said.

“The free for all scene at the Radisson party will definitely repeat itself”, the MAM said, referring to the weekend-long Hotel Takeover party – out of which a cluster of 20 cases of Covid-19 emerged.

The MAM questioned why a public health emergency has not been declared, noting that the country now has the same number as in April.

“It is not business as usual but we are still in the middle of a global pandemic and the Maltese people deserve to be protected”, the MAM said.

The statement read that the MAM council will meet on Friday morning to finalise the directives.