At the start of the pandemic, the government opted for a containment strategy and it did well. Malta was praised for its success in limiting the spread of the virus and almost nailed it.
We could achieve those results because, first of all, we are an island (so we can control our borders easily) and because we took the right decisions at the right time.
More prominent countries did not manage to achieve half of what we did. Most of them had logistical nightmares to deal with, making it almost impossible to control the spreads.
Others were hoping to achieve herd immunity and today we know that the decision was an epic fail.
Now, we are in the eye of the storm once again but the wave seems to be getting bigger. Many people feel disappointed.
The partial lockdown was hard, not just from a psychological point of view but also from a financial viewpoint where some people lost their jobs or had to close shop.
Unfortunately, the leadership the authorities showed in the first wave seems to be absent this time round. Worse still, we have seen several official events where the social distancing measures were rather lax, thus sending mixed messages to the public.
This pales in comparison to how other countries are handling the pandemic. Jacinda Arden, the prime minister of New Zealand, one day announced 102 days without COVID and the next day ordered a lockdown. Similarly, we need firm decisions and proper guidance from our politicians.
Mind you, I understand the worry of the prime minister that the economy might collapse with a sustained lockdown. I’m not advocating that. But what I’m after is a balanced approach which guarantees our health and sustains our economy simultaneously.
In my humble opinion, if we want to get out of the current crisis, the solution is to create a Maltese bubble.
Such a bubble will ensure that shops don’t close and people can live their regular routine (with social distancing measures) inside the bubble.
Children can go back to school, people go back to work and the economy of the country proceeds as usual while safeguarding employment. Tourists are only allowed to enter the country after rigorous testing, thus avoiding the importation of new cases.
Such a bubble will ensure that shops don’t close and people can live their regular routine- Alexiei Dingli
The sector which will be significantly impacted will be the tourism industry which amounts to around 11 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the broader effects of tourism account for a further 20 per cent of the GDP. But by jumpstarting the economy, the government can accumulate income from the other economic sectors while shifting its focus to help the tourism industry and its supporting activities.
To do so, we need to take the following measures:
• Enable obligatory testing for anyone wanting to come to Malta, similar to what other countries did. Freight should be allowed in with the necessary precautions.
• Eradicate the virus with a quick but total lockdown of two or three weeks. Santa Marija week would have been ideal since many companies were on shutdown. However, we are still in time to do it before schools start.
• When the numbers decrease again, reopen everything and let people live in the Maltese bubble with social distancing measures in place (masks, distance, avoiding mass events, etc).
Like this, the government would have helped everyone who needed it but only for a few weeks (while the country is in lockdown).
After that period, when things reopen again, the economy would start generating wealth, and the government would be able to focus on the tourism industry.
This means the government’s efforts would be concentrated and not dispersed. The cost would be much less and probably more effective.
The government should then incentivise tourism. It should avoid mass tourism and focus on those tourists who want to appreciate our unique mix of heritage, beaches and Mediterranean cuisine, just to name a few.
Since these people are not the type to mingle in large groups and considering they would be tested at the entry points, not only would we be reducing our risks but also guaranteeing a safe haven for all those people worldwide who are longing for a holiday.
I think there’s a big opportunity here but we need to take some hard decisions before.
In my opinion, this is the most sensible approach which can work. Every passing day the situation is getting worse, with growing numbers and lack of direction from the authorities. A lot of people are getting concerned.
Some people might argue that this is just scaremongering and that COVID-19 has little or no effect on most people. But that is not true, since scientists are perplexed by the after-effects of the virus. Damage to the heart after the patient recovers is just one of the after-effects, and there is still so much we need to learn about COVID-19.
Worst of all, even if we are healthy adults, let’s not forget that we are in close contact with vulnerable people all the time (such as asthmatic children or elderly relatives).
So are we going to risk being asymptomatic and affect these people’s lives? Personally, even if one person dies, it’s already one death too many for me.
So let’s be smart in our decisions, let’s have the courage to make the right choices. If we create the Maltese bubble, we can at least, proceed with our life and sustain our economy.
Alexiei Dingli is a professor of artificial intelligence.