Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne has announced that the government will go ahead with the easing of Covid restrictions as from Sunday, regardless of the steady rise in new daily Covid cases.

Among other things, the last day when wearing of masks in schools will be mandatory is 13 April. In addition, as from Sunday, people attending seated and standing events outside no longer need to produce a vaccine certificate. Only people attending standing events inside need to continue producing such a certificate, he said.

The government is trying to move the country towards normality, but this newsroom must again question whether the government is jumping the gun here.

New cases are skyrocketing. Speaking on TVAM, the health minister said that the number of patients in hospital has remained low. However, the MUMN issued a statement which is slightly worrying.

The MUMN said that Mater Dei Hospital is in crisis, with Covid patients being spread in all wards. It said that nurses have called the union highlighting the "huge influx" of Covid cases. The union said that 150 Covid patients are at the hospital.

In light of this, one begins to wonder whether the government is trying to close an eye to the situation.

As this newsroom has said before, there will be a time when the country will return back to normality, but we must be cautious on our journey there. The way the government acted up until the election campaigns, slowly and cautiously easing restrictions to see their reaction, was working.

At the same time we all must agree that Fearne's handling of the pandemic has been very good. So perhaps he should be given the benefit of the doubt here. But one misstep and all the goodwill he has earned on this issue will go straight out the door.

We must keep in mind the vulnerable and ensure that they are constantly protected. Malta also needs to have a good summer of tourism, but if we are not cautious, we will risk that.

If the MUMN is expressing concern, then the health authorities need to listen. This is all compounded by what the union describes as a nursing shortage.

"Politics should not be the agenda of any Health Minister and if the MFH refuses to reduce elective surgery, the risk of transmission of Covid increases both to the staff and to the patients. MDH has six designated areas which are not meant to be wards but are being used as wards. Such areas including MDH corridors, the MDH library and the staff canteen. All areas make it harder for the nurses to work with patients since these are not set up as a ward should be," the union said.

One hopes the health authorities are taking decisions based on the right reasons. One also questions the weight the economic impact on government finances has on the government's stance.