Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1346072
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 MARCH 2021 NEWS COVID-19 MATER Dei Hospital has reached it's "breaking point" with limited beds available in the ITU and other wards as COVID-19 cases surge, the nurses' union has warned. The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said on Tuesday it has re- quested a meeting with the Prime Minister in light of the recent surge. It added the situation could not be allowed to prevail, as it was having an " enormous negative effect" on Ma- ter Dei Hospital. "This is also causing an adverse sit- uation in the economy of the coun- try. What is evident is that the cur- rent measures and enforcement are failing miserably," the union said. The union added these high figures would ensure Malta was on the Eu- ropean red list, hurting tourism. The union requested a meeting with the Prime Minister and oth- er social partners to discuss further measures that could be introduced to curb the spread of the virus. Nurses' union warns Mater Dei Hospital is at 'breaking point' KURT SANSONE MALTA has registered 336 new coro- navirus cases overnight, the highest ev- er daily number recorded by the health authorities since the start of the pan- demic. A surge in new infections shows no sign of abating, with this being the third record in a week. The latest data shows that three more people died from COVID-19 in the 24 hours leading up to noon yes- terday, bringing the total number of victims to 319 since the start of the pandemic. The deaths include a 61-year- old woman and a 41-year-old man, who died at Mater Dei Hospital. A 78-year-old woman died at her pri- vate residence There were 80 recoveries, bringing the total number of active cases to 2,931. There has been no reprieve since January when Malta registered a post-Christmas surge in cases. The numbers only just started to drop but have for the past week surged again. The high infection rate comes a fortnight after carnival weekend but the authorities have also blamed the increase on the UK variant, which is highly infectious. Malta administered 81,883 vaccine doses. The number of people who are fully vaccinated after receiving their second dose now stands at 29,021. Reacting to the development, Op- position leader Bernard Grech said the Prime Minister's statements that the country would soon start running today sounds very hollow and hurtful. "Prime Minister, we will beat the pandemic by being serious and dil- igent, not through empty words," Grech said. Record 336 new COVID-19 cases registered as infection surge continues NEW COVID-19 measures, and higher fines for those breaching them, may be im- plemented over the coming days if deemed necessary by authorities. Health Minister Chris Fearne announced this during a par- liamentary address, fielding criticisms from the Nationalist Party benches of Malta's COV- ID-19 and vaccination strategy. He warned that, for the next weeks or months, people must remain disciplined in terms of preventive measures, while government must make sure that measures are being ob- served and enforced. Fearne acknowledged the ris- ing number of COVID cases, which for the first time since the start of the outbreak, exceeded 300 overnight cases today. However, he said that govern- ment's vaccine strategy will be the line of attack by which vi- rus spread can be mitigated. He explained that the Astrazeneca vaccine is being used primarily to inoculate frontliners, as ini- tial health guidelines found the vaccine to be safe for those be- low 55 years of age. While half of Pfizer and Mod- erna vaccine doses are reserved with each consignment, so as to ensure that a second dose is available after the 21-28 waiting period between jabs, govern- ment has opted to distribute all Astrazeneca vaccines straight away upon arrival, given the two-month gap. He further squashed any ru- mours that the contact-tracing team has fallen behind, saying that at most, the sudden rise resulted in a two or three-day delay. This was done in reaction to Bernard Grech's statement ear- lier in the sitting, during which he brought out a quarantine letter dated 1 March, requiring the person to quarantine from 24 February. "This person could have spent five days infecting everyone they met," he said. Grech even commented on a lack of transparency in vaccine distribution, and how people think that some individuals are receiving the jab before they are actually entitled to. Fearne was quick to rubbish the claim, even claiming that an Opposition MP personally asked the Minister to jump the vaccine queue. Prime Minister Robert Abela also fired back at claims by the Opposition over the struggling contact-tracing team. "It's easy for you to say that they failed," he said. "Let's sup- port the work of health author- ities, who have spent a year under pressure to protect our health." Abela described a recent Council of Europe meeting, where EU leaders discussed a coordinated approach to travel post-COVID. He said that there was talk of a potential vaccine passport, but given the diver- gence of opinions raised, will be discussed again in the next meeting this month. "We agree that all non-essen- tial travel needs to be discour- aged for now, while making sure not to add any challenges for commerce." Higher fines, new COVID measures may be implemented in coming days