Updated 4.50pm with Fearne's reaction
A group of 62 people sceptical about COVID-19 has filed a judicial protest against public health chief Charmaine Gauci and Health Minister Chris Fearne, saying they have caused "national panic" over the pandemic.
The group argued that Gauci introduced a series of restrictions as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 without first declaring a public state of emergency.
In a reaction, Fearne said the last thing the country needs are obstructive efforts that are not based on science.
In their judicial protest, the group also raised doubts over the results of the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test used to detect coronavirus and commonly referred to as the swab test, while they also protested the restrictions in place for asymptomatic carriers.
People who are healthy are being labelled as sick and a danger to others without any scientific evidence, the group argued.
Healthy people cannot be ordered to quarantine, they insisted.
Gauci was also accused of not carrying out proper due diligence when introducing measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus.
The group wants Gauci to revoke decisions that, they said, medically do not make any sense, including the wearing of face masks in open spaces, social distancing that prevents family gatherings and other rules related to relatives' burials.
Measures and regulations that force establishments, clubs and schools to act as "police with the protestors and all citizens" should be revoked, they demanded.
And going beyond COVID-19, the 62 protestors also want the transmission of 4G plus and 5G technology to be stopped until "the safety of the radio frequencies is established".
COVID-19 is very real - minister
Speaking to Times of Malta, Fearne said he wanted to repeat what is already public knowledge: COVID-19 is very real and can have very grave consequences. Any claim to the contrary is flying in the face of scientific fact, he said.
Coronavirus is transmitted mainly by droplets and it is now proven that wearing a mask decreases the risk of contagion. Similarly, quarantine is a proven strategy in the control and mitigation of any infectious disease and claiming otherwise goes against large bodies of scientific evidence.
"Finally the PCR swab test is the gold standard the world over and has been one of our key instruments in identifying and isolating positive patients. The global pandemic situation is difficult enough as it is. The last thing we need are obstructive efforts which are not based on science," said the minister, pointing out he would answer to the specific references to this judicial protest in due course.
The judicial protest was signed by lawyers Rodolfo Ragonesi and Davina Sullivan.