Malta’s medical unions have suspended their strike action, which was set to take place today, after fruitful talks with health minister Chris Fearne last weekend.

A drafted text was agreed on detailing how to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, particularly relating to the risks of mass events and the recent surge in cases to avoid unnecessary risks to medical professionals and the public.

The document is set to be ratified tomorrow in another meeting between the unions and health ministry, which they consider a “make or break situation”, warning that the strike would proceed on Wednesday 5th August should their demands not be affirmed formally.

Medical unions MUMN and MAM issued directives for all health professionals to only work on emergency cases after accusing the Prime Minister of encouraging the public to ignore public health guidelines while the tourism minister promoted large-scale events.

Following clusters of COVID-19 cases linked to hotel weekend parties, festa activities and other events, fresh restrictions were reintroduced to tackle the spike.

Malta currently has 185 active cases of COVID-19.

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