Parnis ignores elderly COVID-19 deaths with partisan speech in House

Silvio Parnis shrugged off calls for him to resign in the wake of a rising number of elderly deaths and infections, by hitting out at Bernard Grech’s “presumptuousness”

Parliamentary secretary for the elderly Silvio Parnis
Parliamentary secretary for the elderly Silvio Parnis

A junior minister who despatched an order of roly-polys to elderly people while under fire for the increasing number of COVID-19 infections inside homes for the elderly, used his winding-down speech in the House to hit out at Opposition leader Bernard Grech.

Silvio Parnis shrugged off calls for him to resign in the wake of a rising number of elderly deaths and infections, by hitting out at Bernard Grech’s “presumptuousness”.

In a speech that totally ignored the problems Parnis is facing in his own patch of the ministerial garden, he said Grech should resign for having not done the full 14 days’ quarantine when his wife was infected with COVID-19. Grech was allowed to resume last-minute campaigning after not displaying any signs of COVID-19 after two negative tests.

Almost half of the elderly residents at the St Joseph Home in Fgura tested positive for COVID-19 last week, as management responded to mounting criticism at the massive outbreak at the home, saying  113 residents from the 278 in the home had tested positive for COVID-19. The majority of the residents who tested positive are asymptomatic. There were also 29 staff members who tested positive and another 50 who are in quarantine.

Malta has registered the second-highest rate of elderly coronavirus patients for every 100,000 people in Europe. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported on Thursday that Malta had some 121.5 coronavirus patients aged over 65 for every 100,000 people. 

Spain is the only other European country whose rate of infected elderly patients in the past two weeks was higher than Malta's. It stood at 200.8 per 100,000 people. Romania has the third-highest rate. The three countries also top the mortality rate list.

Grech has been critical of Parnis’s management on elderly care. “Parnis had disappeared – nobody knows where he is. He is not inspiring trust... his measly roly-poly to the elderly does not do justice to the seriousness of the matter. He should consider his position; if not, then Robert Abela must take steps himself. It is unacceptable that in this situation, the persons responsible are not making themselves visible. What is the plan the government has on this matter? 

“I call on Robert Abela to address the situation as soon as possible. People, the elderly, at home and in institutions, are worried.”