The Geriatric Medicine Society of Malta is supporting a call for a national health emergency to be declared in order to control the Covid-19 situation again.
In a statement, the Society said that they are greatly concerned with the latest spike in Covid-19 cases, noting that the situation inside care homes is confirmation that the most vulnerable group of society are bearing the brunt of the second wave.
The trend of new cases has worryingly shifted to homes for the elderly in recent day, with the St. Joseph’s Home in Fgura being the hardest hit – 51 cases were reported there on Wednesday alone. New measures have since been announced for such homes.
“The GMSM is concerned with the number of cases in care homes, as if they continue along the same trajectory we may soon be facing large scale tragedies, such as those seen in other European countries like Italy, Spain, the UK and France, where many residents in care homes succumbed to COVID-19”, the statement read.
The society said that the “bewildering” numbers reported in recent days in care homes are putting large strain on doctors and other health care professionals, especially those working in the community and in acute hospital services.
“The GMSM believes that the present situation in care homes was predictable, and preventable, had the lifting of restrictions been done in a more responsible manner.
“Unfortunately, with the go ahead of mass events in mid-July, positive cases started to increase again, and within weeks spilled over into care homes. Since care homes are closed communities, it only takes one seedling for cases to spread exponentially.”
In light of the situation, the Society said that it is giving its full support to the Medical Association of Malta’s request for a national health emergency to be declared until the situation concerning Covid-19 is brought under control again.
Furthermore, they noted that “all persons should have appropriate access to medical and palliative care, and advanced age should not by itself be a reason for excluding patients from specialised hospital units; The Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of age (Article 21).”
“Residents should be treated in the appropriate settings that they require, and residential homes affected by COVID should be given the resources that they require to combat this crisis.”