Decisions about COVID-19 quarantine periods should be left up to health authorities and not be taken arbitrarily as some lobbies have suggested, UĦM Voice of the Workers has said.

The union noted with concern that both the Nationalist Party and Chamber of SMEs were pushing for quarantine periods to be slashed to just five days. Both have based their calls on the recommendation made by the US Centers for Disease Control. 

In a statement, the UĦM said that while it appreciated that people were growing frustrated with the continued pandemic, cases and deaths continued to be reported.

"Decisions on the COVID-19 quarantine or isolation period should not be made arbitrarily as if the numbers were being drawn by lots but should be based on scientific evidence."

Four elderly people died while COVID-19 positive between Tuesday and Wednesday, authorities said on a day when 673 new cases were reported. 

The union blamed that growing frustration on triumphalistic statements made previously, declaring that Malta had “won the war” against the virus or that the vaccine had allowed the country to achieve “herd immunity”. 

It nevertheless said that Malta should continue to follow advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, with health protocols based on “evidence-based practices and not serve to accommodate pressure groups or politicians' agenda”. 

As a union, it also expected to be consulted by political parties making proposals that affect workers’ rights and conditions, it said, noting that as recently as last March, PN leader Bernard Grech had insisted that “health authorities should be taking decisions and not politicians”. 

“This principle should continue to apply to all politicians, unions and employers' associations,” the union said.