Postponing a lockdown due to the spread of Coronavirus would signify the closing of the gate after the horse has bolted, the Medical Association of Malta said today.
Reacting to the press conference given by the Prime Minister, MAM noted that Robert Abela has confirmed that lockdown will be definitely necessary when there is documented sustained local transmission.
The statement that a “lockdown suffering will be much bigger than that caused by Coronavirus” seems to be in direct contradiction to his declared intention to introduce it at more troubled times. Undoubtedly it will be a necessary sacrifice.
This is a new disease and there is no “textbook” solution, but we must learn from other countries’ mistakes.
The problem with waiting for documentation of local person to person transmission is that there is a significant time lag between infection with the virus and clinical illness. This means that a lockdown would then come into effect only after there was uncontrollable spread, with potentially devastating consequences on human health. This is more probable in a small and densely populated country like ours.
Notwithstanding it is clear that in China, Italy, and now Spain that half measures have been proven to be completely ineffective, and all 3 governments have resorted to drastic measures, including a state of emergency in Spain. In China a full lockdown has been very effective to the extent that the epidemic was rapidly terminated by this measure, where all others had failed, MAM said.