The Medical Association of Malta today noted that the 7-day moving average is now of 125 new cases per day, with two new deaths reported yesterday. 16 patients are in ITU and over 80 people admitted to hospital. It is expected that at this very high daily number of cases, hospitalizations, intensive care admissions, and deaths will continue to rise.  3-5 new ITU admissions per day are expected.

This means that the point where the health services will not cope with the demand is getting dangerously close. Soon most elective operations may have to be cancelled as staff will have to be redeployed. While the ministry claims to have 100 ventilators, the staff available can only cater for about a quarter of that number.

Furthermore there is a day’s waiting list for urgent swabbing, and 5-6 days for other patients. Contact tracing has been overwhelmed by cases and rendered ineffective. Unlike other unions MAM and UHM have accepted that a number of their members help out with case management and contact tracing, however a considerable backlog of several days has accumulated.

The scene on Saturday evening at Paceville clearly illustrated the problem, a significant number of people who do not comply with the rules, assuming that the government has no intention to enforce. Minister Camilleri should be angry with himself and his colleagues as this is the result of 6 months of mixed messages and fake enforcement. The handling of journalists at the PM’s press conference could not have given a worse example to the man in the street.

In a 20,000 word budget speech the word Covid was mentioned just 7 times, and the word recession not a single time. Clearly the government is in denial of the enormous danger to its citizens. No it is not business as usual, as both the health and economy are under threat of Covid. Our parents and grandparents do not have to die because of such a failure.

The situation at the health services will soon hit a critical point, and further restrictive measures are necessary as soon as possible.

Other EU leaders who are in contact with reality, have taken their responsibilities seriously and follow the advice of their medical experts and have introduced partial lockdowns or curfews.  Malta has no choice but to act immediately and decisively, otherwise the situation will spiral out of control.