Unions ask for mandatory Malta lockdown in meeting with civil service chief

Malta’s doctors union yesterday called once again for a mandatory quarantine for all Malta residents.

Although satisfied with new travel restrictions, the Medical Association of Malta said the Italian and Chinese experience of COVID-19 showed that “half-measures, although well-intentioned, do not work.”

In a meeting with all other trade unions with the Principal Permanent Secretary on Saturday morning, MAM called for a pre-emptive lockdown for a minimum of three weeks to be enforced with immediate effect.

This would mean that all local residents will be in mandatory quarantine; only employees providing emergency services such as MDH and health centres, power stations, water services and other essential infrastructures would be allowed. People should leave their homes only to buy essential items; all shops and places of entertainment except for pharmacies, supermarkets and groceries and food retail outlets (excluding restaurants and pubs) are to be closed during this period;

All schools and universities should remain closed during this period; the airport and ports would be closed to visitors and only allow repatriation of Malta residents stranded abroad. Any repatriations of local residents need to be followed by a strict, mandatory quarantine period of two weeks;

Transport  of goods and cargo would continue unaffected but no residents in Malta would be allowed to travel outside  the country without permission of the health authority.

“Other countries have only managed to control this disease by implementing such strict measures early on. If we do not take these measures now, we are very likely to have to take them anyway soon, with the risk of overwhelming our health service and our capacity to respond to the crisis. China managed to control the local epidemic within a period of 3 weeks and have now issued a travel ban to Europe to avoid import cases such has been the success of these measures,” MAM president Martin Balzan said.

The Malta Union of Bank Employees president William Portelli shared MAM’s sentiment, demanding a lockdown across the nation with immediate effect.

“Stakeholders should be working on reducing the risk and not waiting for it to happen. The Malta Employers’ Association proposal of setting 19 March as the date of possible lockdown is too distant and risky business as the nation should not be taking chances and cannot afford to gamble in such circumstances,” Portelli said.

“To this effect, it is also evident that in countries where lockdown was not immediately implemented, the risks ran higher such as in Italy and now followed by Spain who declared a state of emergency. Whilst stakeholders should agree on how and what essential services can still be managed which include banking and financial services, taking immediate action should help in particularly the Health Authorities and those involved to control better any potential risk of the epidemic in spreading.”

Portelli said the decision to go for lockdown will be much more effective as it will restrict both movement and contact between people. “MUBE is sure that the people will understand,” Portelli said.

The UHM Voice of the Workers has also asked for a preventive lockdown to stop the virus from being locally transmitted.

"The country has two options: to order a lockdown when we get to a state of emergency when local transmissions start taking place or to order a preventive lockdown so that this virus stops being spread," the union said.

It added that if this virus starts being locally transmitted, there is a distinct possibility that the country would not have the physical capabilities and the human resources necessary to address the situation. 

"This union is insisting that the lockdown counts as a kind of quarantine and that the wage of all employees should be paid," UHM said, adding that the government had a duty to meet with all social partners and come up with a holistic strategy.

The union said that it told workplaces to be consultative and to communicate all changes to the employees. In the absence of this, the union would be taking industrial action. 

"We hope that the message that the union is sending is not adhered to too late in the day. Had the government taken our advice earlier, to stop flights from high-risk zones and to order a mandatory quarantine, Malta does not have a case of coronavirus."

The MUT also called on the government to proceed with a lockdown. "The MUT is noting all indications regarding a lockdown of the country. It is now evident that it is a question of when rather than the if. The MUT believes that an early decision needs to be taken by the Government to limit the spread of the virus."

The Union of Professional Educators followed suit and said that it was asking the government to call for an immediate lockdown.

"The people are now asking when the lockdown will take place not whether it will happen at all. This decision has to be immediate so that the coronavirus stops spreading," the union said.