In a recently submitted motion, the Association of Doctors and Dentists (AMMD) demands that the Chamber of Deputies and the government take stricter measures.

The current figure of 218 hospitalisations due to Covid-19 is too high, and there is a risk that the country's intensive care units could be at capacity soon. The AMMD, which held its general assembly on Saturday, called on politicians to stop relying on partial measures and instead take the decisions that are necessary to deal with the situation on the ground.

In addition, it should be mandatory for every citizen to wear a surgical mask in public as well as indoors as soon as people from different households come together. Cloth masks or scarves should no longer be considered as suitable substitutes.

The association demands that these stricter measures should be combined with effective checks and hefty fines, arguing that people who do not respect them endanger the health of others.

The AMMD points out that the systematic vaccination of the population will take months, and adequate measures need to be taken in the meantime.

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Recent figures do not indicate a downward trend and the government should thus not expect the situation to improve by relying on the current strategy, the association explained.

Healthcare professionals are at the brink of exhaustion and hospital managements thus see it as their duty to reiterate the seriousness of the current situation and present their demands to the government.