The Nationalist Party wants the government to create a scientist-led COVID advisory board and has proposed pegging public health measures to key indicators.   

Speaking at a press conference earlier today, PN MPs Clyde Puli and Claudio Grech said the advisory board would be similar to the UK’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (SAGE) and would be required to publish all its minutes, for transparency.

SAGE provides the UK government with scientific and technical advice during emergencies, such as pandemics. Its membership depends on the emergency being faced but generally includes leading specialists from academia and industry. 

The PN is also calling for the government to set itself explicit targets in its battle against COVID-19 and proposed pegging some public health measures to targets in key indicators, such as the rate of hospitalisation and the number of deaths.

For instance, if the country currently has 3,000 active cases, the maximum number of people who can gather in public would only be increased if the number of active cases were to drop to 1,500.

The main point of the strategy would be to provide clear objectives that allow for a coherent, proactive approach, the opposition's speakers stated.

“We’ve gone back to where we were a year ago. We’re back to square one in a partial lockdown,” Puli said.

“We don’t want a situation in which doctors in ITU wards full of patients end up having to decide who gets to get treatment and who doesn’t,” he added.

Grech insisted that the Opposition is not seeking to launch partisan attacks on the government but rather to level “criticism that is based in facts,” adding that the PN is “being pragmatic with its approach to improving the situation.”

Besides the targeted measures and the setting up of an advisory board, the party also reiterated its calls for the declaration of a public health emergency.