Fearne dismissed the nurses’ claims; is the rise in Covid cases being provoked by the vaccinated cases?

Blog post by Marica Micallef

To the appeal made by nurses that the Covid hospital situation is desperate,[1] Chris Fearne replied that the situation is under control. In fact he dismissed completely their entire appeal. On ONE’s TV “Pjazza”, Fearne said:

“There was a time when we had 40 COVID-19 cases in ITU and we were managing to keep things under control then. Right now there are four cases in ITU.

“I thank all the hospital staff for their work, but the situation is under control and the vast majority of people who have been hospitalised with COVID-19 aren’t there because of the virus.”

“If someone breaks his foot after falling off a ladder and tests positive for COVID-19 upon admission to hospital, he will be included among the numbers as a COVID-19 case.”[2]

This is clear that Fearne keeps on making U-turns. It shows that the past figures of Covid were being inflated.

Now, EU concerns over the rising number of cases in Malta are not longer of a concern to the Government. The Times of Malta reported that “Malta is back at the top of the EU’s COVID-19 concern list after having the best rate at the beginning of March, fresh data confirms.

In fresh evaluations by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published last week, even before the election celebrations saw thousands gathering to celebrate, Malta received a score of nine out of 10, the highest figure among all EU member states.”[3]

Up to a few months ago, this would have alarmed the local Health Authorities, asking us to do our little bit “to protect our frontliners” whom we used to applaud in our windows and terraces. What happened to all this now? Are the local Health Authorities hiding the fact that many vaccinated people are overwhelming the hospital and its staff? Why are they leaving the hospital frontliners to fend for themselves now?

As the English saying goes “The proof is in the pudding” and if nurses, who have a hands-on experience, are making such a claim, I tend to believe the nurses.

In a recent article by Times of Malta, the media portal highlighted the claim made by nurses that “hospital has ‘disastrous’ staff shortage, with the “number of COVID-19 positive staff making running of hospital ‘very difficult’”.[4] A senior nursing staff said that that “shortage of staff in hospital is far worse than the authorities claim” “as COVID continues to hamstring medical care.”

“There is no other word to describe the situation in hospital. It is a disaster,” said one senior nurse at Mater Dei Hospital, who wanted to stay anonymous.

During night shifts, many wards are left with just two nurses to cater for a total of 24 patients, the nurse said.

Day shifts are not much better, with understaffing being a reality in most wards.

The eruption of new ‘wards’ around the hospital, such as the conversion of the staff canteen, the library as well as the major incident ward, mean that the pool of nurses available at Mater Dei now has to stretch to cover the added beds in these wards, the nurse added.”[5]

To make this situation worse, many nurses are resigning from their job. Times of Malta reports that “More than 120 nurses left their job at Mater Dei Hospital last year and the figures for the first three months of this year indicate that 2022 is set to see off even more healthcare workers.”[6]

I am also aware of some people who had a surgery postponed because the surgeon is in quarantine. Why is hospital staff still being asked to do a PCR test, when we are in the exit Covid roadmap?

To conclude, I am here attaching some comments that people wrote to the article where Fearne dismissed the warning done by the nurses:

[Why don’t you go yourself to work with them, Sur Fearne. Apart from MDH there are homes which are full of Covid. You are spoilt for choice.]

[The most important thing is that you don’t come up with another booster!! Because you can keep it.]

[Especially that which was the nurses’ canteen…if you do not have strength to walk, you can bet that all the ward will see your behind. It is like a German ghetto.

He hit his head. Even the workers are sick.

DP because they are still under shock, that’s why.

Liar. But as usual, you are right because the idiot believes everything as long as it is uttered by the red].

[Everything is false, and what happens under your watch is the contrary [of what you say] and you state that everything is under your control. Exactly like the vaccine because I was one of those who is still suffering because of it. I am surprised who they have re-elected you.]