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15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2020 NEWS How did Malta succeed so well in containing COVID-19? partly responsible for the less effective response in hotspots like the Lombardy region in Italy. The health crisis also cat- apulted Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci to the national stage. She distinguished herself as the reassur- ing face of Malta's front-line health de- fence. Her assertive and calm delivery gave the country an institutional refer- ence point; her non-political role as a public health professional was a breath of fresh air for a country where politicians appropriate most of the airtime. Gauci's confident and professional response to questions from media, and her focused message, also ensured wide compliance to health restrictions. Overall, the pandemic reinforced peo- ple's faith in medical science and may have further immunised the country from Facebook conspiracy theorists on themes like vaccination. But it also curtailed the freedom of movement of women seek- ing abortion abroad, highlighting the country's shortcomings on reproductive health, reinforcing the need for safe abor- tion to be provided in the national health care system. The pandemic could also have even more lasting consequences on health pro- motion measures. The ban on smoking at outdoor tables, introduced as restaurants had to shift more of their tables outside, may well outlast the pandemic. It may also be hard to roll back the additional tables mushrooming on pavements, un- dermining the quality of life of the el- derly, disabled and people with mobility problems. The pandemic also reinforced the need for more effective mental health servic- es and psychological support for people experiencing anxiety in their daily lives. The provision of a number of hours for psychological support for employees may become more common in more work- places, and the shift to online counselling and support could outlast the pandemic. History • Lessons from the 1915 Spanish Flu VALUABLE lessons from history particular- ly during the Spanish Flu pandemic informed the choices made by today's administrators. Past pan- demics were vital in the emergence of a robust public health bureaucracy which remained intact from British times onwards. Compliance to health directives may stem from the draconian impositions im- posed by Sir Thomas Maitland, who gov- erned Malta during the plague outbreak in 1813 which saw the British fenc- ing off entire villages, something which the recent cordoning of the Hal Far open centre is r e m i n i s c e n t of. But M a i t - land's d i - rec- tives also went as far as shooting to kill plague victims who tried to con- ceal their infection. Hardened and informed by past experience in dealing with bouts of plague, Malta registered the lowest death rate across all of Europe dur- ing the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Only eight per cent of the population was struck by the deadly and infectious bout of H1N1 strain flu between 1918 and 1919, compared to 23% of the UK. By the end of the pandemic, Malta lost 0.3 per cent of its population, compared to Samoa's 20%, Italy's 1.3% and Great Britain's 0.6%. Key to Malta's success was a widespread awareness campaign and rigorous quar- antine that ensured the island suffered the smallest number of casualties. At the time of the Spanish Flu, the chief government medical officer, Attilio Cri- tien, sent a leaflet in every household warning people about complications and ways to ensure the pandemic did not spread. Among other things he advised people not to spit on the floor or in the street asked people and to stay away from work and crowded places. The Acting Chief Gov- ernment Medical Officer Albert Bernard also rec- ommended that schools remain closed to control the spread of the Spanish Flu. The Governor also ordered that every cinema and place of entertain- ment to keep all premis- es clean and thoroughly ventilated; not to exceed maximum capacity to prevent overcrowding; to have the place disin- fected at least once daily; that all schools be kept clean and ventilated; and that the Superintendent for Public Health be giv- en powers to close down any such prem- ises that is not kept clean. James Debono Economy • Testing the limits of prudence UNLIKE the rest of the Eurozone, Mal- ta's economy remained with its head above the water in the first three months despite COVID-19's shock impact. Figures released by the National Sta- tistics Office last month showed how the economy grew by 0.5% in the first quarter. The growth is a far cry from what the country had been experienc- ing but given the exceptional circum- stances created by the pandemic, it sig- nalled resilience. When the pandemic reached Malta's shores in the second week of March, non-essential retail outlets were shut down, schools closed and public gath- erings effectively banned. But it was the closure of all overseas travel that had a major impact because it starved the country of important export cash from tourism. The economy stalled, work- ers were placed on shorter work weeks, some lost their jobs, and many busi- nesses unaffected by forced closures ex- perienced lower incomes. Government's first reaction to the eco- nomic crisis came on 18 March, when it announced a package made up primar- ily of tax deferrals and loan guarantees to help maintain business liquidity. The first package was greeted with scepticism. Companies asked for more direct support to help them sustain wages in a situation where income dried up suddenly. Government respond- ed a week later by introducing a wage supplement of €800 per employee per month for the hardest hit sectors. All the while, it resisted calls from some quarters to shut factories and stop construction work. The former allowed the country to continue tapping export cash and the latter kept many people in employment, even at the risk of incon- veniencing residents who were asked to remain indoors. When restrictions were lifted with limitations, the government unveiled a recovery package to stimulate con- sumption and mitigate business costs for the next three months. One notable absence from the package was a lack of funds to attract tourism. All measures will be financed domestically through government bonds. Malta also entered the crisis with a debt-to-GDP ratio of just over 40%, an improvement over the 70% plus debt the country faced in 2013. This allowed the government enough room to ma- noeuvre comfortably. There is still more firepower availa- ble, including the passport cash wealth fund. The government has so far resist- ed using the full arsenal, arguing for prudence to safeguard public finances. Yet, as the world navigates uncharted waters, the limits of prudence will con- tinue being tested severely. Kurt Sansone Not a bad job: Malta's economic fundamentals allowed the island some breathing space even though the cost of the economic bounce-back is high. Right: Deputy PM and health minister Chris Fearne shone in his statesmanlike approach to the pandemic. PM Robert Abela adopted a more populist approach in the hope of achieving a faster return to normality