Doctors have spoken out against a judicial protest against measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
On Tuesday a group of 62 coronavirus sceptics filed a judicial protest against public health chief Charmaine Gauci and Health Minister Chris Fearne, saying they have caused "national panic" over the pandemic.
They 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 criticising the restrictions in place for asymptomatic carriers.
Gauci was further criticised for putting in place measures without first calling a publich health emergency.
In response, the Medical Association of Malta said both Fearne and Gauci have a strong academic background and are well respected within the medical profession “not only for their competence but also for their integrity”.
Both, are lucky to be backed by “a highly qualified team”, they said.
However, they said it was essential to declare a public health emergency “so that the sentiments exemplified in the protest are not encouraged amongst the general public”.
Doctors pointed out that at least five public health specialists occupy senior positions in the World Health Organisation, one at the European Centre for Disease Control, one chairs the Public Health Expert Board of the European Commission, and three are past presidents of major European public health associations.
“While Malta’s numbers for COVID cases and deaths are still quite high, all the measures which have been approved to date have a strong scientific evidence to justify them,” MAM said.
It added that it “strongly disagrees” with the reasons mentioned in the protest as they lacked scientific basis and the withdrawal of preventative measures at this stage “would lead to a major public health disaster”.
Doctors said that public health legislation in all democratic countries in the European Union permitted the temporary suspension of personal freedoms if justified by major public health threats.
This was also accepted by all major religious creeds and, all of which have been very supportive of the measures locally.
MAM also went a step further, saying that based on the scientific advice of many experts more restrictive and preventive measures may be needed to curb current numbers and mortality rate.