The scenes of Floriana FC supporters throwing social distancing rules to the wind and celebrating a long-awaited Premier League victory triggered justified condemnation on the web, from health authorities and experts, and even from the business sector.
The backlash highlighted some of the very different attitudes that exist in society over how seriously or otherwise the COVID-19 pandemic should be taken. It may also have soured the very celebrations that triggered off the controversy.
What are the root causes of a decision to flout health guidelines so blatantly and risk a flare-up of the illness, even if taken in the euphoria of the moment?
Not everyone understands the gravity of the pandemic. There may be a ‘victims of our own success’ effect at play here: by means of appropriate measures instituted by the health authorities and widespread public cooperation with these directives, we have indeed been fortunate as a country to have avoided the worst aspects of this viral illness.
Only seven people have died at the time of writing and roughly the same number have been taken seriously ill. Few families have been directly affected in terms of health.
By no stretch, though, does it mean that this happy circumstance cannot change, and in a relative flash.
People in the health sector have the knowledge and background to realise how dangerous COVID-19 is, and socially they have probably suffered the most by needing to separate themselves from families and loved ones so as not to place them at risk.
Others will have been reading up for themselves or avidly following the health briefings and nightly news, and making informed decisions about how they should act. Many others, though, may be more highly influenced by the signals and attitudes of the people they look up to and trust.
This is where the responsibility of public figures comes in.
For historic and, let’s face it, tribal reasons, the actions of politicians here in Malta carry a far greater weight than in many other countries in Europe. What they say, how they are seen to behave and the pictures and videos they publish have an enormous effect on how others will act.
This means that a prime minister who turns the need for continued caution on its head and frames it in terms of fear – “our biggest enemy” – is sending out the wrong message. The same goes for members of cabinet who post photos blatantly flaunting social distancing guidelines.
Other public figures too must bear a degree of responsibility for what we witnessed on the Granaries, be they influencers on Instagram or personalities with thousands of followers on Facebook. Their posts may garner many likes but they also directly and indirectly affect how people approach the current situation.
Floriana’s spontaneous victory celebrations and the reaction to them may seem to some to have been blown out of proportion.
We must, however, remember that most foci of infections in Europe stemmed from one or two ski resorts in Austria; the disaster in northern Italy following a Champions League clash between Atalanta and Valencia, in Milan; and hundreds if not thousands of deaths in England from a rock concert, another football match and a horse racing festival. When large crowds gather it takes only a few people to trigger a catastrophe.
It would be a pity to throw away all the good work done in and by the population because certain public figures get carried away by the desire for popularity.