Around 3,000 commuters who use the Gozo ferry service on a daily basis will be handed free COVID-19 masks by the government, the Gozo minister announced on Tuesday.
Clint Camilleri was speaking during the first meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Gozo which focused on the impact of the pandemic on the sister island.
He said that the masks would be distributed in the coming days, as part of efforts to facilitate enforcement of COVID-19 regulations, including a requirement for passengers to wear masks.
Ferries are also carrying half their normal passenger capacity - from 900 to 450 - for social distancing reasons.
Moreover, the Gozo minister said that in order to mitigate losses due to the sharp drop in traffic, the ferry company had reached an agreement to suspend operations of the chartered fourth ferry, the MV Nikolaus, for 60 days. The suspension may be extended for a further two months, depending on how the situation would be developing in the coming weeks.
Just one active case in Gozo
The meeting was also addressed by the Superintendent for Public Health, Charmaine Gauci who said that there was just one active case of COVID-19 on the sister island. However, she cautioned against lowering the guard.
“Not having new cases for a number of days does not automatically mean that Malta and Gozo are COVID-19 free,” she warned.
She added that as long as the rate of transmission of the virus is kept under one, the situation would remain under control.
Gauci said that between 50 and 100 tests were being done each day at the Xewkija hub, but the number fluctuated due to changes in the requests being made. She urged those having symptoms to come forward to do the test to avoid further complications and to contain the spread.
As for the situation at the Gozo General Hospital, she said the COVID-19 facilities would be retained for the time being, due to the possibility of a second wave.
‘We placed all our eggs in one basket’
The meeting was also addressed by the presidents of the Gozo Tourism Association and The Gozo Business Chamber who warned that the pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the economy of the sister island.
“The lesson we learnt is not to place all our eggs in one basket in this case tourism, as we had long been warning that this could spell disaster in the case of a downturn,” MTA President Joe Muscat said.
“For us summer 2020 is cancelled as there will be no tourists,” he added.
On his part GBC President Joseph Borg called for government incentives to diversify the economy by attracting digital and financial companies as well as tax holidays.
We have gone beyond government's demands - Steward Health Care
Nadine Delicata, Chief Operatingt Officer of from Steward Health Car which runs the Gozo Hospital outlined the measures taken to cater for the outbreak. She noted that they had gone beyond the government’s request of adding 15 ITU beds and 105 beds for acute cases over and above the existing capacity.
She pointed out that Gozo was able to receive more ventilators due to “Steward’s good supply chain” which she said made it possible to “jump the queue”.
MTA working on marketing campaign
Malta Tourism Chairman Gavin Gulia said making an aggressive marketing campaign at this point in time would be “a waste of money”. However, the MTA is planning to promote the sister island a COVID-19 safe destination and put more emphasis on domestic tourism when the industry starts coming back to life.
The second phase of aggressive marketing on Gozo’s heritage which would take place after the reopening of the airport.