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Malta’s COVID-19 Rules Have ‘Made Children Prisoners Of This Pandemic’, Mother Says

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A concerned mother has spoken out about family pressures that come from being a parent of children who have not yet come of vaccinable age.

“From December till February, my family was subject to three quarantine periods, each following an exposure from a positive case at school,” she began.

At the time, the rules called for a full quarantine with each exposure. But this rule was eased on 7th March, after authorities announced that only those with a positive COVID-19 test would be forced to quarantine for the full fortnight.

Regardless, direct exposure to a person with an active infection would still see such a person – a primary contact – keep to their homes for five days, with a negative test required on the final day.

Only too many among us know, that a negative test on the final day of quarantine is not necessarily ‘a given’.

“Children are being made prisoners of this pandemic and there is nothing that we can do,” she said, detailing how her sons would start their journey in school, only to be halted time and again.

The constant stoppages cripple kids’ educational momentum, but it’s not the only issue. Children suffer the lack of social interaction they would normally receive on the schoolyard, with their friends.

“If my son tests positive because kids at school keep testing positive, he is unvaccinated and will not be a primary contact to another sick kid, but a confirmed COVID-19 case.”

“That’s where the issue lies. Because if immunity lasts him two months and kids keep contracting COVID from each other, and they cannot receive the vaccine because they are younger than five years, the parents will be subject to quarantine too.”

The interruptions have seen many concerned parents take measures in their own hands, as far as testing goes.

“It simply doesn’t make sense. Why are the rules so harsh? There are some who have stopped swabbing altogether despite their kids having symptoms of COVID-19. They cannot take the test because they are afraid of the repercussions.”

Repeated quarantines have had her land in hot water with their superiors at work.

“With each layoff from work, my workload continues to pile up. And with that, comes added pressures in the family.”

“Not to mention the issues of not being paid for the extra time spent trying to play catch-up.”

“There are many who are in the same situation as us, and they have begun threatening politicians with their votes, and I don’t blame them,” she said.

“We have quarantine leave, but I ask you, is it enough when we find ourselves having to go back and forth with periodic interruptions, with every, small exposure [to a positive case] our kids have at school?”

She couldn’t help but express her frustrations in light of events tied to the political race, with mass rallies becoming a mainstay on our televisions, at least up until the end of March.

“Of course, what goes for the goose does not seem to be good for the gander, in this country.”

Tackling the issue with her boss did not yield a particularly promising outcome either, after he alluded that pending piles of work can be tackled in a day which has twenty-four hours, within a week which has seven days.

The alarming thing, in her eyes – and the eyes of many concerned mothers alike – is that within the first five years of a child’s life, this can be a repeated occurrence.

“It warrants some thought because life just has to go on, especially for working mothers and fathers.”

Presently, the mother-of-two is stuck in limbo with respect to her future plans for her children’s life at school.

On the one hand, she would like to continue sending her children to school. But having been bitten on three separate occasions, the thought of letting her kids ‘live in freedom’ has floated across her mind more fervently.

Do you think quarantine rules in Malta are still too strict?

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