Unions locked horns with the government on Thursday amid strike action by doctors and nurses over the holding of mass events. 

The government has come under pressure to introduce further restrictions in a bid to stem the spike in Covid-19 cases. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela told social partners that an agreement must be reached without going to extremes.

Abela appealed to the unions to come to a compromise that was sustainable for both the economy and healthcare sector. 

“We are not arrogant, we heard the concerns about the parties and took them on board. We are willing to listen. The four events were cancelled”, Abela said.

The prime minister thanked doctors and nurses for their efforts, reminding how Malta had successfully handled the pandemic in March.

He said the two key principles for reaching such an agreement were protecting lives and protecting livelihoods. 

Abela acknowledged Malta had again seen a spike in cases, but the number of people with serious symptoms remained low.

Event organisers caught breaching social distancing rules introduced to stop the spread of COVID-19 will be fined €3,000 for every breach. 

The fine was made official through a legal notice published on Wednesday afternoon and follows a spate of cases linked to large gatherings, with no more than one person for every four square metres allowed.

Groups larger than 10 are also not allowed and the distance between the groups must be more than two metres. 

The government was forced to reintroduced restrictions after a series of coronavirus cases linked to mass events including a party, a religious feast and a nightclub.  

Doctors have accused the government of carrying out “fake enforcement” saying mass events should be completely banned since it is impossible to control large crowds. 

The MAM doctors' union said on Thursday that its 900 members are overwhelmingly following its strike directive over the government's handling of the COVID-19 situation.

The union on Wednesday issued a raft of directives to doctors that include not attending outpatient appointments at Mater Dei and not to handle elective surgeries. The directives came into force on Thursday morning. 

Urgent cases are still being seen, as are pregnant women and cancer patients.

"We plan to continue the actions for a week but if the government decides to stop mass events, we will stop the directives within an hour," Balzan said.