COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with our lives. It has totally conditioned our social life, disrupted our economy and put an enormous stress on our health system.
COVID-19 is one disaster for which our government can absolutely not be faulted. It has, however, brought out and highlighted the gross incompetence and crass presumption of Prime Minister Robert Abela.
We all remember Abela’s behaviour between March and the beginning of May 2020, with Chris Fearne and Charmaine Gauci telling us to behave one way and Abela stating the opposite a few hours later.
Then, on May 17, with experts already concerned about a possible second wave, he came up with his famous “Il-mewġ fil-baħar qiegħed” (waves are in the sea).
Fast forward to summer, we had Abela and his brilliant tourism minister bragging that we had all “mechanisms” in place for a tourist takeover of Malta. We all know about the disaster that ensued. And, yet, on August 3, our presumptuous Bobby reassured us: “Situation under control” and, on August 23, he repeated: “Situation still under control.”
Living completely in denial, and after having holidayed in nearby Ragusa while Fearne and Gauci were left to deal with the problems, on October 18, he had the nerve to declare: “We succeeded to keep the pandemic under control.”
He repeated this on November 8: “The coronavirus pandemic has been kept under control” and reiterated it on November 22: “Situation stable and under control.”
At the end of November, when the second wave had hit us really hard and the victim count had reached 133, he decided he had to convince us that he was really a safe pair of hands.
On November 29, he pompously declared that “by May, business as usual”. He repeated this on New Year’s Eve and on January 6, 2021.
In the meantime, COVID-19 deaths had risen to 226.
Blinded by his myopic trust in himself, on January 16, he announced that “irridu naħarbu niġru” and, 18 days later, on January 24, he reiterated that “se naħarbu niġru”. Unbelievable! The man seems to be living in a cuckoo land of his own creation and, to be honest, now that we know what mettle he is made of, whatever he says I simply take with a pinch of salt.
On November 29, Robert Abela pompously declared business as usual by May
What is worrying is when level-headed people like Fearne and Gauci get taken in by the theatrics of their political master.
They tried a horrible, concerted con on us all just after the beginning of the year, using statistician Vincent Marmarà’s findings in their attempt to convince the population that it was imperative that students go back to school.
In a joint press conference with Gauci and Fearne on January 8 this year, Marmarà revealed how, after all the schools opened for their first term, last September, the number of COVID-19 cases decreased for seven consecutive weeks, implying that it was imperative for students to go back to school to prevent an increase in infections.
Amazingly, Gauci joined in and concluded that COVID-19 cases in the community should drop because families would participate in fewer social activities if students went to school. Fearne nodded on in agreement.
Two days later, Abela, when addressing the party faithful in Mellieħa, repeated the semi-blasphemy that “a physical return to schools leads to better control of COVID-19 cases”.
They never justified their reasoning, which is against any form of logic. The four were trying to convince us that keeping children at home in Christmas for 15 days led to more COVID-19 positivity.
In their eagerness to dupe us, they had forgotten that, between March and June, children had spent 120 days at home… and COVID-19 positivity had gone down to zero.
Children, thus, went to school.
Fifteen days later, we had 203 positive cases, two classes and 46 families in quarantine at St Monica School, Mosta and seven cases (five in the same class), eight teachers and three classes in quarantine at Santa Margherita School, in Cospicua. And, who knows how many more that we do not know about.
In the meantime, as I write, the death toll has risen to 261.
Abela (and Marmarà, Fearne and Gauci too), don’t you ever dare try duping us again.
Arnold Cassola, independent candidate and ex-secretary general of European Greens