Wobbly hand on the steering

The worst so far happened last week with the spectacle of the head of government rushing to the main news bulletin to loosen the lockdown rule already agreed by Cabinet after coming under pressure by bodies representing employers, it would seem.

We are still climbing the curve, we were warned on Tuesday as we ended what has become a nightmare month with more and worse to come in the new month.

We knew Coronavirus was coming but even today we cannot forget that the new untested administration of Robert Abela has proved to be rather wobbly driven hither and thither by unseen pressures that first would have allowed more cruise liners in, then would have delayed the blocking of flights from north Italy etc.

The worst so far happened last week with the spectacle of the head of government rushing to the main news bulletin to loosen the lockdown rule already agreed by Cabinet after coming under pressure by bodies representing employers, it would seem.

Efforts were later made to recompose the issue and, after all, this is all untried territory and there is no one template. We can see how other governments did not get it right, not just Donald Trump and Boris Johnson but also the governments of Italy and Spain, with horrendous consequences.

The government of Malta has continued with its wobbling – first it announced lockdown then, as said, it loosened it, then it announced extraordinary measures to stop people from gathering and imposed fines. So did other governments until the masses of dead forced people to stay in. Now, another wobble, driving lessons with people in close proximity have been reallowed when other businesses have been closed up.

There have been calls for infecting people through neglect to be made a punishable crime when the real punishment would be if the infector gets the virus.

Among the cases announced on Tuesday, an infector came from abroad and went to work, infecting three colleagues who in turn infected two others. This is not the only case. Word of mouth tells of an employer who came back through Rome at the height of the crisis and went straight to work and who does not allow his employees to work from home. Such callousness should not go unpunished.

The health division is doing a splendid job but its efforts and heroic deeds risk being nullified or at least impaired if the other sectors do not cooperate.

At this point while we are still climbing the curve, the focus is and must be on health. Other considerations, even the most worthwhile, come later. Among these we include saving jobs and businesses.

The government has come up with three plans – another wobble – and as we report today there has been unanimous praise from the constituted bodies but meanwhile those who are not represented have been both silent and disapproving.

We still await the announced plans to filter down to grassroots level. So far, all we can report are blocked phone lines and so far little if any loosening of purse strings. Again, there are no templates for this.

We note that other governments went about this differently and also sourced EU funds and wonder if this government intends to finance the outlay from national sources only.

There are sectors such as tourism and hospitality that disintegrated from one day to the next with all the multiplier consequences on so many people. Other sectors such as manufacturing and retail can survive for only a limited time while other sectors like construction can go on for a long time. In fintech the situation is rather complex as it depends on what is happening out there.

So every sector has its own story to tell and one size fits all does not really work. There have also been some good stories in the difficult days we are passing – from new efforts by many retail outlets to get products to customers and new uses of the internet - to remain on the business sector. In this regard we would have liked to see more creative efforts in the educational field.

But the main focus must remain to get our people through this traumatic period with the least damage as possible.