People in Malta feel more uncertain, frustrated and fearful over the pandemic than those in other EU countries, a fresh EU survey has shown.
According to the data, 65 per cent of the people surveyed in Malta said the pandemic had led them to have feelings of uncertainty. This was notably higher than the EU average of 45 per cent.
Similarly, while the EU average for feelings of fear stood at 22 per cent, in Malta this climbed to 35 per cent.
And the ongoing struggles with the pandemic also led to more people in Malta feeling frustrated (41 per cent) than in the rest of Europe (34 per cent).
On the other hand, 38 per cent of respondents expressed a sense of hope for the future - similar to the eU average.
The vast majority of people in Malta - 83 per cent - still say health should be prioritised over the economy when dealing with the pandemic.
In its latest public opinion survey commissioned by the European Parliament and carried out in March and April, those interviewed were asked their views on the ongoing issues related to the pandemic.
According to the data, despite the vast majority wanting the authorities to prioritised health, over 50 per cent said they were financially impacted. Of these, 33 per cent have already been negatively impacted while a further 23 per cent expect to be affected in the future.
'Wrong direction'
While sentiment towards the EU's handling of the pandemic was positive, with 73 per cent saying they were satisfied with the measures taken, views on the national handling of the situation were not.
The survey revealed that at the time of the data collection between March and April, almost half of the population believed things in Malta were going "in the wrong direction".
In comments about the results, Misco's Lawrence Zammit, who conducted the surveys in Malta, said usually the answer to this question was "the other way around".
He said that opinions on these issues tended to be influenced by what was happening at the time when the surveys were carried out. In March, Malta entered a quasi-lockdown period after recording record numbers of cases.
"My perception of this result is that this was reflecting the way the Maltese felt about the way the government was handling the pandemic at the time," Zammit said.
He went on to note that in recent years, the same question had yielded positive responses. The general situation on the island was viewed as negative back in 2019 when Malta was dealing with demonstrations and political unrest.
The survey also confirmed that people in Malta are generally far more favourable in their perceptions of the EU than other nations.
A whopping 91 per cent said they believe the EU should have competence to deal with crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.