Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1300177
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2020 NEWS Record COVID-19 cases: doctors pour water over 'fake' enforcement Cases 4486 Active 1257 Recoveries 3184 Deaths 45 Swabs 295,361 LATEST COVID-19 www.maltatoday.com.mt/covid19 on all passengers who do not pretest before arrival should be introduced, if it is true that rapid tests are now available, however at a hefty price tag for careless tourists." The organisation said it wel- comed the introduction of ob- ligatory mask-wearing indoors. Up till now the wearing of masks at the workplace was on- ly obligatory for workers in con- tact with the public. This meas- ure, which MAM also dubbed as "fake", had misled thousands of office and factory workers not to wear masks indoors, it said. Teleworking from home had to be encouraged, added the organisation, saying it was the "last chance" for the Maltese people to avoid lockdowns and curfews as happened in Spain, France and the UK. Not enough ITU nurses to cover ITU bed spaces - MUMN Also on Saturday, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses warned that a huge number of COVID-19 cases will be "cat- astrophic" to both the health sector and the economy. MUMN expressed concern at the increase in COVID-19 cases being reported on a daily basis, saying that this increase will negatively affect all hospital pa- tients and staff. In a statement, the MUMN said the rising numbers of in- fections will result in more hos- pital admissions, more COV- ID-19 outbreaks in healthcare settings and "will definitely have a negative impact on all hospitals including primary care, elderly institutions and MDH at the detriment of the patients and the staff." Pressure on the existing nurs- ing work force especially in ITU is already having an adverse effect. Despite having 75 ITU beds at Mater Dei Hospital and 25 ITU beds at Gozo General Hospital, MUMN said it "would like to inform all the public that there are no sufficiently trained nurses available for such a huge number of ITU beds in both hospitals." "Every ITU bed requires high- ly specialised nurses to man- age ventilators and provide in- tensive nursing care," said the union. The MUMN said it has requested a meeting with MDH management on the issue. "Ul- timately the nurses will suffer, with the patient paying the ul- timate price," it said. MUMN appealed to the public to adhere to rules about hand- washing, social distancing and wearing of masks, and to the government to enforce them. It also asked the government to consider other measures which other European countries are following. Teachers' union want school closure protocol Teachers' union MUT yester- day said it was expecting the government to start discussions on the protocols for school closure, in view of the upward trend in COVID-19 infections. "It is evident that the high number of daily positive cases and the alarming virus trans- mission in the community is impacting schools, educators, students and families. Any- time, some schools would have to close. However the criteria which shall lead to such closure are not known." The MUT said there could be no distinction between state and non-state schools or be- tween primary, secondary or post secondary levels. "The MUT expects this situa- tion to be given priority whilst it affirms again that it was the Government which opened schools and whatever happens in schools or as a result of their physical opening is entirely its responsibility." Top: Martin Balzan (MAM) and Paul Pace (MUMN) said rising COVID-19 cases are putting the entire health sector under strain MATTHEW AGIUS COVID-19 cases continue to surge as the number of new cases reached 204 yesterday at 12:30pm, breaking the previous record, set on Fri- day, of 122. The number of active cas- es now stands at 1,257. 42 people recovered from the disease, for a total recovery number of 3,184. The Saturday cases includ- ed 32 family members of previously known cases, six cases of contact with positive work colleagues, five from Paceville, seven from direct contact with other positive cases and two imported cas- es. The Maltese were shocked at the record number of in- fections in the past week: the cases increased by 805 since last week, an increase of 21%, nearly a quarter of historic cases since March; as well as five deaths. The record numbers come as nurses union MUMN warned of catastrophic con- sequences if the uptick in cases continued to gather pace. Doctors' association MAM also warned that prop- er enforcement of measures to contain the spread of the virus was needed. PN leader Bernard Grech reacted yesterday by saying the Maltese were justified in their concerns over the "ex- plosion" in cases. "Doctors, nurses and front- liners have been appealing to the government that it is high time that this busi- ness-as-usual approach ends. Teachers are asking for pro- tocols on eventual school closures. "For Robert Abela, everything appears to be un- der control, and he is only interested in focusing on his internal party problems in- stead of the problem which he brought about himself," Grech said, referring to the opening of airports back in the summer. "Our country needs serious leadership which puts the people before anything else." Prime Minister Robert Ab- ela on Friday announced that bars and entertainment es- tablishments will be forced to close at 11pm in a bid to curb the spread of COV- ID-19 as Malta battles a surge in cases. The measure will come into effect on Monday and is in- tended to improve the level of enforcement. "Life must go on but to do so we have to be responsible towards each other," Abela said during a press confer- ence on Friday evening at Castille, after returning from a European summit. The Prime Minister said there will be a greater em- phasis on enforcement but urged people to do their part. Deputy PM and health min- ister Chris Fearne said it was important to act prudently at a time when COVID-19 in- fections were increasing. He said that rapid testing kits that will give results within 30 minutes, will be intro- duced as from 28 October and will be used in certain circumstances. On a successful note, Fearne said that in the first six days of the flu vaccine being administered, 75,000 people had taken the jab. Active cases climb to 1,257 as Malta registers record 204 infections