Why were new restrictions announced when according to the Health Authorities hospitalizations remained low?
Blog post by Marica Micallef
Covid19 brought the cancellations of the traditional Catholic feasts in summer and now is also spoiling Christmas. Gibraltar has cancelled official Christmas celebrations after it saw a spike in COVID cases, despite being, [like Malta] one of the most heavily vaccinated parts of the world[1] after it became the first nation in the world to vaccinate the entire adult population.[2]
Dr. Fearne and Profs Gauci made sure to leave their last press conference for 2021 for the 23rd of December amid a record of positive cases that Malta has registered in these last few days.[3] How ironic for them to impose restrictions again when Malta is one of the countries which is heavily vaccinated and should NOT be seeing a spike in cases! Doesn’t this show a failed vaccination strategy?
Back in June 2020, Dr. Fearne himself had announced that Malta had won the war against Covid-19[4], adding that even though other countries are still at war, it does not mean that Malta must remain in the war. He also added that “llum l-R-factor huwa 0.5 u dan huwa baxx ħafna” and that our health system is very much prepared to combat not only Covid-19 but even any other epidemic that can follow, including the seasonal flu:
“Id-Deputat Prim Ministru qal li llum il-pajjiż għandu sistema tas-saħħa ppreparata għal kull każ ta’ epidemija, sew jekk hi Covid-19 kif ukoll epidemija oħra inkluż mewġa ta’ influwenza staġjonali.”
Can I now ask Dr. Fearne what kind of war did Malta win in 2020 and why is Malta at war again? And what happened to the low R-factor he had referred to in June 2020? Do the readers remember him saying in press conferences that the tsunami is in the sea? Has this tsunami reached land? And, since he boasts that our health system is well-prepared and equipped, can he explain why did MUMN call for a stop to non-urgent surgeries and closure of bars, in order to curb Covid-19 and why did “the doctors’ union warn that the current COVID-19 situation is not sustainable and there will come a point if no action is taken when Mater Dei Hospital will not have enough beds to manage the pandemic”?[5][6]
And why is the doctors’ union making such a fuss, when it should know that this scenario is a repeat of the seasonal flu situation back in 2018 when Mater Dei was in a crisis and had to cancel minor operations[7]. Yet, no lockdowns or a pandemic were announced back then!
An hour before the above-mentioned conference, in an interview on ONE radio, PM Robert Abela predicted that “The health authorities will be announcing decisions aimed at enhancing the importance and take-up of the booster dose to fight COVID-19”[8], meaning, that they are aimed at “coercing the public to take the booster dose” while urging “those who had not been vaccinated needed to do so, and others needed to take their booster dose”[9]. We also read that “Though the number of new cases was very high, the rate of hospitalisations remained relatively low at 53.”[10] Since the government had promised that measures would be SOLELY IMPOSED based on HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS, can I ask why were new measures and restrictions announced by Dr Fearne and Profs Gauci in the conference based on POSITIVE CASES? Abela himself confirmed in the interview that “the situation regarding admissions and intensive care had remained stable”[11].
While one can argue that the Health Authority may be panicking because of the rapid rise in the number of persons that are being hospitalized because of Covid-19 related illness, the same Health Authorities have never issued any statistics of the individuals who have ended up in hospital after taking the vaccine. There are cases where patients have ended up occupying beds in hospitals because of the side effects of the vaccine. Unfortunately, the Health Authorities are numb on this point.
Therefore, is the government covering up the alarming rise in hospital admissions of patients who had been vaccinated? Considering that the Health Authorities have “increased bed capacity at Mater Dei” and opened “bed capacity at Boffa Hospital” as well as ‘measures normally taken during such periods’[12] it is extremely bizarre that our hospitals cannot cater for the increase in the Covid-19 cases.
This conference put the rising number of hospitalizations into the spotlight, however, nothing is being said of the individuals who had or are being hospitalized because of the side effects of the Covid-19 vaccines. More and more individuals are being conscious of these hospitalizations and are starting to speak openly about them on social media.
[1]https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/christmas-cancelled-gibraltar-vaccinations-b966816.html
[2] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/gibraltar-covid-vaccination-programme-entire-adult-population-b924942.html
[3] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/watch-fearne-gauci-announce-new-measures-amid-record-covid-cases.923368
[4] https://www.tvm.com.mt/mt/news/malta-rebhet-il-gwerra-kontra-l-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR0r-xAGMuRF4RuTJ4x7yjsNSoQ2z4d69AV9AkhWJBjcAtDCZ3w5HaMFS4Y
[5] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/mumn-calls-for-stop-to-non-urgent-surgeries-closure-of-bars-to-curb.923056
[6] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/authorities-raising-bed-capacity-at-mater-dei-boffa-as-admissions.923353
[7] https://netnews.com.mt/2018/01/07/minhabba-krizi-fl-isptar-mater-dei-jithassru-operazzjonijiet-mhux-kritici/
[8] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/pm-health-authorities-to-announce-decisions-to-enhance-booster-dose.923371
[9] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/pm-health-authorities-to-announce-decisions-to-enhance-booster-dose.923371
[10] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/watch-fearne-gauci-announce-new-measures-amid-record-covid-cases.923368
[11] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/pm-health-authorities-to-announce-decisions-to-enhance-booster-dose.923371
[12] https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/authorities-raising-bed-capacity-at-mater-dei-boffa-as-admissions.923353