In dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, more attention needs to be given to the elderly and vulnerable individuals over the economy, the Nationalist Party said in a press conference held this morning.

With Covid cases on the rise, the party’s spokesman for health Stephen Spiteri and spokeswoman for social policy and families Claudette Buttigieg highlighted how the current governance of Covid regulations is failing to produce effective results.

Spiteri spoke about how the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) is overwhelmed with patients in hospital who have tested positive and are in need of assistance. As a result of the attention given to Covid patients, individuals suffering from other illnesses or injuries are being neglected and subjected to extensive waiting times.

In order to mitigate the pressure placed on MAM, Spiteri called for the current Covid restrictions to be monitored more closely to ensure that restrictions are not being breached by the general public. This not only applies to day-to-day life in Malta (such as public gatherings), but also to the Maltese ports and airports.

Buttigieg took a sympathetic stance to the situation by emphasising that vulnerable individuals are experiencing “a lot of anxiety” and neglect as a result of not having received their vaccination. She also said that vulnerable people not only include the elderly, but also adolescents under 16 years of age who suffer from diseases that have deteriorated their physical health, such as diabetes.

It is essential that we see when to give the vaccine to these individuals in order to “ease their minds” and “give them a vision of their future”, she said.

The press conference comes after MAM released a statement yesterday claiming that Mater Dei Hospital is struggling to cope with the soaring number of patients in its intensive care and medical wards. The association expressed its concern that, on average, around 200 positive cases are being confirmed every day, which has forced them to consider the opening of the last additional ITU unit.  “The government must take responsibility for its failure to take more effective measures which were required”, it said.