We could all do with an ounce of certainty in moments like these.
Certainty about the lockdown measures, certainty about being able to buy essential products, certainty about employment, about our own health and about our futures.
Once COVID-19 is a crisis, then by definition it wreaks havoc on the most basic of assumptions about our daily life. There’s nobody who can promise a quick return to our normal lives by snapping their fingers, but we can do with a reality check.
Looking back on epidemiological history, one tool which no civilisation had yet developed is making a dramatic difference in how we’re fighting the coronavirus. Imagine fighting this pandemic without the internet. Social distancing has been bridged with instant communication, albeit with its own limitations. The public is being kept abreast on the situation daily.
The EU’s open platform for data sharing is facilitating research and speeding up progress in getting a handle on the pandemic. Through this, scientists are able to collaborate from time zones away by sharing droves of information on COVID-19. States have established a good practice of daily reporting on cases, and data collection and analysis are painting a better picture of the threat we are facing.
In a time where closure is demanded, a culture of openness is key.
It isn’t without some irony that the internet cuts both ways. The problems with disinformation that existed before the coronavirus dominated our headlines are still very present. If anything, they are more pronounced now that fake news and misleading information can actually have fatal consequences. If ever there was a shortage of fake news, it definitely isn’t now.
An arguably botched response by the United States has regrettably weakened its credibility on the international stage in responding to the pandemic. That has had severe consequences on the world’s ability to combat the virus. It is never reassuring to see the World Health Organisation scapegoated in the middle of an unprecedented public health crisis.
Such a backdrop has made for fertile ground for the East to respond aggressively.
We are on the way back to normality, slowly but surely- David Casa
Investigations are showing marked increases in disinformation directly relating to the coronavirus emerging from Russia and China. Strained tensions preceding the crisis has hindered global cooperation, with an uptick in conspiracy theories sowing confusion and division.
The late Li Wenliang, the doctor who sounded the alarm over the coronavirus, was censored in a failed attempt to cover up the outbreak while in its infancy. Bizarrely, there are even intermittent drives by Chinese diplomats pushing a narrative of an American origin of the coronavirus.
The world has had to face the consequences of a disposition towards censorship. It is hard to imagine that a policy of opaqueness has been converted into a pinnacle of transparency.
It’s quite clear to observers that a hardcore drive to push a pro-China, anti-Western message from the East has come only in the aftermath of a crisis mismanagement that has now had profound effects on every aspect of our lives.
Again, openness is key.
The extent of the problem is slowly being diagnosed thanks to efforts to ensure thorough reporting and advice based on science. Efforts by Maltese health experts and good cooperation from the Maltese public’s side has meant that the pandemic has been relatively contained here.
Importantly, this has been possible thanks to international and European cooperation.
The onset of the crisis is an example of a force majeure par excellence; it was not up to us to have to face the pandemic in the first place, but it is entirely in our hands how we choose to respond to it.
It is entirely in our hands what values we choose to affirm going forward.
After lockdown is lifted, we can expect to rethink key issues on sovereignty, globalisation, and Europe’s self-sufficiency. There needs to be a shift away from interdependence and towards an increased self-reliance for Europe, but that doesn’t presuppose autarky.
Malta and the rest of Europe will need to be able to get hold of medicine and equipment as soon as the need arises – how we achieve that will be open to debate. Nobody wants to relive states nicking masks off each other on runways.
While unity in a time of crisis is essential, it should not mean a regression to protectionism. Similarly, valuing unity does not mean a contempt for the right to criticise or voice dissent.
The same openness that will save us in this pandemic cannot be threatened by a disdain for open debate. God forbid we stop valuing diversity of opinions, lest we sacrifice our human rights out of fear.
It is exactly in times of crisis that we choose the principles we value the most. Nobody can dispute European solidarity was slow on the uptake, but nobody can dispute that Europe did show solidarity.
If the coronavirus is characterised by social solitude and uncertainty, we should proceed, now more than ever, with solidarity and trust – and that is what Europe is offering.
Europe is shaped in times of crises, back when it was just an idea a generation ago, and now in times of unprecedented crisis.
It is at times like these that we best understand the importance and necessity of coordinated and decisive EU action. There’s work to be done, especially where permanent crisis response is concerned, and when it comes to countering aggressive disinformation and propaganda.
We are on the way back to normality, slowly but surely.
The answer is more Europe. Now more than ever.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP.