The Malta Association of Public Health Medicine (MAPHM) has called on the health authorities and government to take “swift and evidence-based actions” immediately.
This comes following the record-breaking 510 positive cases which were recorded on Wednesday.
MAPHM has expressed its concern at the alarming high rate of new infections and admissions to hospital and ITU over the past 24 hours.
The association stated that over the past 24 hours, the fifth intensive care unit has been opened and is now practically full.
“This was the last available improvised intensive care unit on the island and there is no spare capacity to deal with more seriously ill patients who are getting younger and younger,” the association said.
The statement further read that although it might be too early to judge the effectiveness of the new measures announced last week, the recent news “is a loud and clear signal that we need to act with greater resolve.”
“4 weeks ago we had an average of 110 new cases per day. Today we have over 500 new cases. Today we have among the 5th highest rates of new infections in the world. Last week we said that time will tell whether we need measures. This time has arrived,” the statement read.
The association added that “it is still too soon to rely on the vaccines to protect us. The number of younger people who are currently seriously ill in our hospitals is a testament to this. We need to protect ourselves with proven public health measures for some more time until we can rely on the vaccines.”
MAPHM have also stated that it wholeheartedly endorses the statement issued by the Association of Anaesthesiologists of Malta (AAM) who have described the alarming situation within hospitals today.