Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1266179
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JULY 2020 NEWS Award of Honours and Decorations Malta pays public tribute to Maltese citizens who have distinguished themselves in different walks of life and whose contribution and achievement enrich the general well-being of their fellow countrymen. Any Maltese citizen, a group of persons or a voluntary organisation which is duly enrolled with the Commissioner in terms of the Voluntary Organisation Act may be nominated for the award of an honour on Republic Day. Nominations for 2020 will be received by the Nominations Committee on the prescribed Nomination Form, addressed to the Chairperson, Nominations Committee, Office of the Prime Minister, Auberge de Castille, Valletta VLT 2000, by not later than Wednesday, 5 th August 2020. Nomination forms may be collected from the Office of the Prime Minister, Auberge de Castille, Valletta or downloaded from the website of the Office of the Prime Minister www.opm.gov.mt. For further information, one may contact the Cabinet Office on 22001481. The persons nominated should neither be approached for details, nor informed about their nomination. JAMES DEBONO THE trust in the Maltese health system during the COVID-19 pandemic has been confirmed in an EU-wide online survey. Respondents from Malta and Denmark had the highest trust in their national healthcare system (8.1 and 8.0 out of a maximum of 10 respectively) in all 27 EU member states, and Hungary had the lowest (3.9). Trust in the European Union in Malta was also slightly higher than the EU27 average, at 5 out of 10. This emerges from an online survey carried out during April by Eurofound, an EU observatory on working conditions. The sur- vey results for Malta are only in- dicative due to a lower response rate than in most other countries. Malta scored the fourth best score when it comes to the men- tal health index, below Den- mark, Luxembourg and Ireland but above Finland and Sweden. Moreover, nearly 60% of Maltese remain optimistic about their fu- ture. But nearly 45% reported their financial situation to be worse than three months ago. Over 30% think the situation will fur- ther deteriorate in three months' time. Nearly 40% reported changes in working time during the pandemic and nearly 35% re- ported starting teleworking The survey investigated the im- pact of COVID-19 on wellbeing, work and telework and on the fi- nancial situation of people living in Europe. To capture the immediate eco- nomic and social effects of this crisis, Eurofound launched a large-scale online survey across the European Union and beyond on 9 April. By 30 April, more than 85,000 people had already taken part in the e-survey. The survey will remain online over the next few months in order to capture the impact across time of the COVID-19 pandemic on life and work in the EU and the final results will be published in Sep- tember 2020. The survey findings also con- firm an increase in telework and, for a growing number of re- spondents, a feeling of insecurity regarding their jobs with a dra- matic decrease in working time. It also paints a stark picture of people across the 27 EU member states who have seen their eco- nomic situation worsen and are deeply concerned about their fi- nancial future. One group that is particularly challenged by the change in work patterns as a result of COVID-19 are people with children, given that in the present circumstanc- es they cannot avail of childcare services and in some cases also have to supervise schooling at home. Maltese have highest trust in health system 45% reported worse financial situation than three months ago, over 30% believe it will be even worse in three months Unlikely that smoking ban on outdoor dining continues post-COVID MASSIMO COSTA A doctor who had led successful efforts to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces has said the cur- rent measure prohibiting smoking in outside dining establishments will likely not remain in place once the coronavirus pandemic is over. Medical doctor Mario Spiteri, formerly the direc- tor of the Health Promotion Department, and one of the figures who pushed for the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces 16 years ago, said that it was likely that the measure requiring patrons to keep a certain distance from restaurants and bars before lighting up, would probably be removed post-COV- ID. The ban – introduced by the health authorities towards the end of May as eateries, and later bars, started reopening – requires that smoking only take place at a minimum 10-metre distance from the es- tablishment in question. Smoking indoors had been banned in 2004, except in designated areas, with the ban having been ex- tended to all inside areas in 2013. However, smoking outside an establishment itself was allowed before the coronavirus-related meas- ure came into place. Contacted by MaltaToday, Spiteri said that the main aim of the 10-metre rule was to stop people from gathering outside establishments to smoke, increasing the chance of spreading the pathogen. On the other hand, the ban on smoking in indoor public places served to prevent passive smoking. Outdoors, he said, the risk of passive smoking was lower, because the smoke would be diluted by the outside air. "In an ideal scenario, smoking should be banned entirely," Spiteri said. "But the reality is that smoking often leads to a major addiction to nicotine, and therefore people get hooked and continue to smoke. So, realistically speaking, I don't think that, once the pandemic is behind us, the 10-metre distance would continue to be enforced. I don't see it happening," he added. MaltaToday spoke with Chamber of SMEs vice president Philip Fenech, a veteran in the leisure in- dustry, who said that he had received inquiries from some establishments in the sector on whether the ban would remain in place, now that several other COVID-19 measures had been lifted. "It's of some concern to those establishments which approached me," Fenech said. "Certain clients who smoke told the establish- ments that they felt the ban was a bit of a bother. They could previously smoke outside the bar, but they now have to distance themselves by 10 metres. "I've been asked whether the ban is still on and how long it will apply. These queries have come mostly from those places where drinking is more prevalent, namely bars," he said. Fenech however acknowledged that the 10-metre distance rule had been put in place to further lower the risk of transmission of the virus. "Ten metres is a fair distance to prevent the possible carrying of the virus microbes in cigarette smoke," he added. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt