30 nurses in quarantine as government comes under internal pressure over mass event

Labour government faces growing internal pressure to ban mass events as MUMN head says more than 30 nurses are in quarantine because of latest COVID-19 spike

30 July 2020, 8:28am
by Kurt Sansone

2 min read

A nurse demonstrating the protective gear being worn at hospital by medical staff dealing with coronavirus patients

More than 30 nurses at Mater Dei Hospital are in quarantine as a result of the recent spike in coronavirus cases, according to the nurses’ union head.

Paul Pace, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, claimed on Facebook that the nurses had to stay in quarantine as a result of the latest spike, pinning the blame on mass events.

“No respect to health workers, Mr Prime Minister,” Pace wrote in a direct jab at Castille, which is resisting an outright ban on mass gatherings.

Pace’s reaction came hours after the doctors’ union gave government an ultimatum to ban gatherings of more than 10 people or else face industrial action.

The Medical Association of Malta on Wednesday said that doctors will only work on emergency cases from Monday unless the government acceded to its request.

However, there seems to be no budging by the government on the matter with Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli insisting yesterday that new protocols for mass events were being drawn up. She shunned an outright ban.

Her reaction did not go down well with former Labour Party deputy leader Joe Brincat, a veteran lawyer, who poignantly asked the minister whether she would shoulder responsibility for damages incurred if the pandemic gathers pace as a result of mass gatherings.

Brincat said Italy had extended the emergency but “if it were up to Julia we would have never closed”.

Even former PL secretary general Dominic Fenech, an academic, as critical of Farrugia Portelli’s stand.

“The minister for tourism should stop trying to be the health minister,” he wrote.

The sentiments expressed by Brincat and Fenech were reflected earlier on Wednesday by former Labour prime minister Alfred Sant, who said mass events and band marches were “a bad idea”.

The government is facing growing internal pressure over the matter, especially after Prime Minister Robert Abela’s statement on Sunday that the economy will not close at all costs.

Abela has since Sunday not uttered a word on the developing situation and government sources have told MaltaToday that health information is being channelled through Castille as government tries to limit the public relations damage.

The latest spate of COVID-19 cases can be traced back to a weekend-long hotel party a fortnight ago and the Santa Venera feast.

The situation was compounded on Tuesday when 66 migrants who had been brought ashore the day before tested positive for coronavirus. These were in isolation from the moment they disembarked.

As of Wednesday, Malta had 112 active cases of COVID-19, including the 66 migrants.

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Kurt Sansone is Executive Editor of MaltaToday. He was formerly deputy editor of MaltaTod...