The government appears to have changed its public communication strategy with regard to COVID-19.
Until just before the election, the local health authorities used to publish COVID figures every day on Facebook. These included new and active cases, hospital cases, deaths and vaccinations.
Post-election, they are restricting information to an obscure online repository with far less public access than Facebook, while they no longer give the number of COVID patients in hospital and ITU, nor the ages and gender of those who have died while having the virus.
All pandemic statistics need to be interpreted with care. For example, not all hospital patients with COVID are admitted because of the virus. Many of those who have COVID might be asymptomatic. All information allows the discerning public to better evaluate the risks they might incur of prematurely changing their cautious behaviour.
The withholding of certain data represents a contradiction in evolving government policy. Prime Minister Robert Abela recently spoke of getting to a stage soon where all COVID restrictions are ended. He wants people to take responsibility to avoid unnecessary health risks and to prudently manage their own behaviour.
After more than two years, this is a strategy being adopted by several countries and it is understandable.
But it remains important for the public to be kept informed of all details on the progression of COVID.
Another issue arises from the fact that the Facebook posts were discontinued just after the election, which implies it was not a civil service function. Times of Malta sought clarification from the government about why it was stopped but has not received it.
If the government wants to shift mindsets to try to restore pre-pandemic normality, there should be no problem in saying so. But by remaining silent, the government runs the risk of giving the impression it has something to hide.
The nurses’ union recently expressed concern about the increasing workload and staff shortages partly due to rising admissions of COVID cases.
Health Minister Chris Fearne has tried to reassure the public that the situation is well-managed, yet, he does not seem prepared to support his position with regular statistics on COVID-related hospital admissions.
At one point, he said the authorities will start focusing mainly on hospital numbers - and that is right - but even these statistics are not being made public.
The second risk is the rumour mill taking advantage of the vacuum and feeding wrong information.
Those who follow local COVID news on social media can confirm how much scaremongering there is by those who have no genuine interest in scientific evidence. Some governments assume they know best what information the public should be given, including on matters that directly affect everybody, including health issues.
The local health authorities have never published the scientific reasoning behind pandemic-related decisions, which is arguably of strong public interest. Now they are even withholding day-to-day numbers that could help the public make decisions about their own health.
This all adds to the confusion that often arises when the prime minister or health minister make pronouncements on the next phase of COVID measures – whether relaxing them or otherwise – only for the official guidelines or legal notice to lag far behind, leaving citizens and businesses in a haze of uncertainty.
The government needs to get its act together on the COVID-19 information process. If we are to go back to a semblance of normality, then it is only right that we get access to the right data to make our own decisions.