The Nationalist Party has called on the government to provide psychological support to medical front liners in view of the stressful conditions they are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, PN mental health spokesman Mario Galea referred to media reports in which healthcare workers said they are mentally broken as a result of the influx of patients, particularly in intensive therapy.

“Front liners have been battling case after case of Covid-19 for over a year, and they are seriously understaffed,” Galea said.

The fact that they are unable to provide the level of care they are trained to provide is also contributing to this mental distress, he said.

International studies have shown that the mental health effects of Covid-19 on front liners will be “devastating,” he added. “Certain studies, in fact, say that they will suffer the same effects as the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffered by war veterans.”

The PN called on the government to offer all possible assistance to these health workers, including psychological help.

“These people are our last line of defence and if they buckle, we will have no one to care for us and to defend us from this deadly virus,” Galea said.

The PN thanked all healthcare workers, including those working at the Intensive Therapy Unit, for the sacrifice they are making – “sacrifices we cannot even begin to understand.”

It also appealed to the public to continue observing guidelines issued by the health authorities so as to keep infection numbers low.