The government has secured a consignment of medical bodysuits from China after a massive shipment bound for Malta was stolen in Turkey and believed to be sold on an emerging black market for COVID-19 supplies.

Nurses’ union head Paul Pace said on Tuesday he had been informed that a number of flights had been chartered to bring the suits to the island, after nurses had complained they were fighting the new coronavirus outbreak without adequate protection. 

“We got quite a shock when we saw the report that our cover-alls had been stolen, but the government assured us that other arrangements had been made and we would soon be receiving them directly from China,” he said.

Pace was informed about the Chinese shipment after Times of Malta reported on Tuesday that a 50,000 batch of medical suits destined for Malta had been stolen from a Turkish shipping warehouse. 

Sources involved in procuring medical supplies said that despite their efforts to lock suppliers into contracts, shipments are being cancelled when producers receive higher offers from countries willing to pay well beyond market price.  

Hospital insiders say that many producers of masks and other supplies are now demanding to be paid in full before products leave their factories and they were supplying whoever could pay quickest.

And even when Malta did meet the skyrocketing prices, the authorities still faced hurdles in getting the equipment to the island. 

As large parts of Europe shift into lockdown, shipping and courier services are struggling to get deliveries through. 

Add to that a new crime wave targeting these medical consignments that are traded on the black market, and it was a mammoth task getting equipment to Mater Dei Hospital, sources said.

Times of Malta is informed that in recent weeks a decision had been taken to negotiate directly with the Chinese government to secure a supply.

Using the Chinese embassy in Valletta, contact had been made with “trusted” suppliers in Beijing for a mega shipment. 

“We have a huge shipment arriving from China, and this should see us through for a while now,” the hospital sources said.

Pace said that it was a relief to his members that the protective suits they had been promised would finally arrive.

“We had told the government that we needed to have these suits, the private sector has already been using them, so the news that they will arrive is welcome,” he said.