Got it right at third attempt?

It took the government no less than three attempts to finally get it right. The first two were marred by an air of superiority heightened with the imposing backdrop of flags etc. It was only after renewed and long consultations with the constituted bodies that the government seems to have got it right.

It is quite easy to lose perspective with all that’s happening around us as the latest news displaces the earlier.

One thing remains clear: it was a mistake to delay the introduction of tough measures when the virus reached our shores and even earlier. Remember who said “It’s not the plague”?

Of the 100+ people acknowledged as infected, around 80% came from abroad, which means that had we closed the airport and the port when many people started urging the government maybe we would have had less infected people to care for today and hence less spread.

Even today, while the medical staff is busting its guts to cope with the infections, it is not being supported by all. People, especially the elderly who are themselves the more vulnerable, still mill around the streets and crowd the banks and no one, not the police or other authorities, stops them and turns them back. The same goes for migrants in takeaways in places like Hamrun.

Other countries tackled the virus with more direct actions and are seeing the contagion being brought under control. Those that didn’t do this were later forced to do it by so many dead. In Italy, for instance, they now check the temperature of all taking a train. Why don’t we do the same with all those entering Valletta or those catching a bus from Valletta?

Now on Tuesday night the prime minister announced the third raft of extraordinary measures to tackle the horrendous fallout of the virus on business and jobs. While admitting the huge impact on those who saw their jobs and livelihood disappear without any warning, the most urgent threat to tackle is the medical. The rest must come later and the prime minister’s main focus must be in this direction.

If truth be said, just as many are not impressed by the alacrity shown in the earlier stage of the pandemic so too many are not impressed by the government's attempts on the economic side.

It took the government no less than three attempts to finally get it right. The first two were marred by an air of superiority heightened with the imposing backdrop of flags etc. It was only after renewed and long consultations with the constituted bodies that the government seems to have got it right.

Today’s issue amply exemplifies this. The first pages from page 2 onwards show body after body reacting to the second attempt while page one and 13 show the much changed reactions after the third attempt.

The third attempt looks acceptable, at least to our eyes. There are still huge areas of doubts since no one knows how long the pandemic will last and the extent of the damage it will cause, how many of the businesses it has closed will be able to reopen again. Nor do we know the hole in our finances this huge package will cause.

Meantime we must plan ahead. Hotels that have closed down must undertake needed refurbishment in the meantime. Employees can be retrained. The education system must learn e-learning from home – after all why was that huge expenditure on tablets if they are not used at this time?

The government must scour funds from the many opportunities now being offered by the Commission and ECB.

It will not be that easy to reopen – the prime minister hinted as much on Tuesday.

And this country must avoid giving itself a multi-tiered level of citizens with the privileged employees in the government sector completely safe and paid for and sustained by those in the private sector who are paying through their taxes.

Finally, it was a nice touch by the prime minister, followed later by Minister Silvio Schembri, to offer a month’s salary to the cause. Can we hope this example is followed by Adrian Delia, the rest of the ministers, and past ministers like Konrad Mizzi. A fund should be set up and people urged to donate, a sort of Coronavirus L-Istrina.