Thirteen medical specialist associations and colleges on Thursday joined doctors to “strongly condemn” a judicial protest instituted by “a group of highly irresponsible persons” against measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In a statement, they said a “hotch-potch of senseless allegations that completely lack scientific basis” and which “are very dangerous” in a climate that is already fraught with mixed messages were being made in the protest.
“Every single assertion made in the protest has been debunked by irrefutable scientific evidence. The mortality of COVID-19 is, at least, 10 times that of seasonal influenza. The protection afforded by the wearing masks in closed spaces as well as the importance of social distancing continues to be highlighted in ever increasing publications.”
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 public 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”.
In their statement on Thursday, the experts said pathologists, who were experts in testing, wanted to reassure everyone that the PCR test for COVID-19 is extremely sensitive and specific and is the gold standard of testing.
“To claim that this test has a false positivity rate of 90% is simply beyond rational comprehension.”
If the signatories of the protest wanted clear and realistic reasons for the cause of death of those who succumbed to COVID-19, they only needed to talk to those who cared for sick people in intensive care and the infectious diseases unit, they said.
The experts reiterated that measures currently in place are “not enough” to bring down the numbers of infections, hospital admissions and deaths.
The daily numbers of new cases were still “too high” and Mater Dei Hospital was struggling to cope with seriously ill COVID-19 patients.
This was having a negative effect on the wellbeing of the entire population as many services had had to be curtailed.
“It is crucial at this junction that everybody works together to ensure that our control of this virus is improved to avoid more negative effects on our health and the economy. At a time when the availability of a vaccine is on the horizon, the last thing we need are frivolous and ludicrous stunts,” they said.
The statement was signed by the Malta College of Pathologists, the Malta College of Family Doctors, the Malta College of Gynaecologists, the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine , the Malta Association of Surgeons, the Malta Association of Ophthalmologists, the Malta Association of Radiologists and Nuclear Medicine, the Malta Association of Dermatology and Venereology, the Maltese Cardiac Society, the Association of Anaesthetists of Malta, the Association of Emergency Physicians of Malta, the Association of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeons and the Geriatric Medicine Society.