COVID surge pushing hospital to breaking point, nurses’ union warns

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has called for the postponement of non-urgent surgeries at hospital, the closure of bars and a curfew to fight the pandemic in light of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

In a statement on Wednesday, the union said that measures such as mask-wearing in public are just “political measures” with “no scientific significance” and are not effective in reducing the COVID numbers.

The MUMN warned the situation at Mater Dei Hospital was “very serious,” especially when paired with the flu and other medical conditions.

“Not only are all beds in Mater Dei Hospital filled, but the time has come to consider stopping all non-urgent elective surgeries,” the union said.

The union accused the government of lacking respect for nurses and other health professionals trying to cope with the increase of patients.  

“Allowing the country to run with no effective COVID measures demonstrates that the government is more inclined to appease the entertainment industry than the health professionals such as the nurses who are working under huge pressure,” the MUMN said.

The union said that allowing tourists from high-risk countries such as Britain to come to Malta showed that the government was in denial of the consequences which the Maltese were about to face.

“The government failed to prevent MDH from being overwhelmed with patients by allowing bars to remain open with no restraints such as curfews, as were imposed in other EU countries. This cannot be allowed to continue since MDH is at a breaking point,” the union said.

The MUMN said that the numerous nurses on sick leave or in quarantine were causing a shortage of nurses, which the Health Division had failed to address. ”Nurses are exhausted,” the union said.

For the public’s safety, MUMN has urged the public to avoid going to bars and discos and take all necessary precautions for their own safety.

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