No more industrial action will be taken for now by The Medical Association of Malta (MAM) following this morning’s announcement of fresh restrictive measures aimed at curbing the island’s ongoing spike of COVID-19 cases.

The MAM council came to the decision during an online meeting which was held earlier this afternoon at 4pm. A statement issued to the press shortly after said the council “welcomes the announced public health measures, confirming that all strike action is suspended”.

“The measures announced by Minister Fearne and the superintendent of public health are very close to what MAM had requested and there is no justification for further industrial action at this stage.”

“MAM encourages the residents of the Maltese Islands to comply with these measures to ensure that they succeed in reducing Covid numbers,” the statement continued. “MAM will watch closely the implementation of these measures and reserves the right to react if enforcement is found wanting.”

“It is extremely important both for public health and the Economy that Covid numbers are brought down as soon as possible to avoid the possibility of a lockdown which would have graver consequences on the economy,” the MAM finished.

Just two days ago, with Malta’s government set to announce a slew of new measures, the union had paused its ongoing directives for a week, saying it expected “decisive” action. Now, it seemed like that has arrived.

Earlier today, Health Minister Chris Fearne and Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci announced a number of new measures which will come into effect this Wednesday morning.

These measures include the closure of all nightclubs and discos, a new 15-person limit on all public spaces, the mandatory wearing of masks in all closed public spaces, and the introduction of a new “Amber List” for some countries.

What do you make of this? Do you agree with the MAM that the measures announced today were enough?