Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1276949
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 AUGUST 2020 Raphael Vassallo OPINION The barefaced cheek of it all... RIGHT: before getting on with the task at hand – i.e., laying into Robert Abela for his latest, astonishing attempts to deflect blame for the present crisis – let me at least cut our prime minister this much slack. To be best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as a relia- ble handbook for governments, entitled: 'How to successfully deal with global pandemics of newly-emerging diseases that nobody really knows Jack-shit about'. Or at least, I don't think there is… if nothing else, because Malta was hardly the only country in the world to have mishandled its strategy for a 'return to normality' after the initial outbreak. Even places like New Zealand – until recently, held up as the ideal role-model for tackling the COVID-19 crisis; and quite possibly the future author of the above guide – was forced to re-declare a state of emergency, shortly after claiming 'victory' over the first wave. As such, there is a level at which Robert Abela cannot really be blamed too much for making exactly the same mis- take. After all, he's only a prime minister… not a prophet, or an expert in global health emer- gencies, or – least of all – a worker of miracles. But then again… he is a prime minister. And prime ministers do have to be just a little more mindful of their own responsi- bilities than everyone else: es- pecially when setting a public example that is inevitably going to have a massive influence on public opinion, slap-bang in the middle of a national public health emergency. Which brings me to the first of many remarkable aspects of Robert Abela's press confer- ence last Friday: the fact that he wasn't wearing a mask… and, even more bizarrely, that he went on to defend his mask-lessness by citing 'mixed messages' on the subject by none other than the World Health Organisation. Now: leaving aside the mi- nor detail that he was sitting next to his own health minister Chris Fearne at the time… who, in stark contrast to the prime minister, was not only fully masked, but had his face cov- ered almost all the way up to his (understandably very baggy) eye-balls… … the prime minister must surely realise that the infor- mation he was quoting is (at best) slightly dated. For while the WHO did indeed express initial scepticism about the ef- ficacy of masks (as, too, did the local health authorities)… that was way back in early March, at the very beginning of the crisis; and just like the rest of us, the same WHO has also had to go through a steep learning curve since then. On the basis of the latest evi- dence, it has revised its former opinion on the subject: and now argues that… yes, actually. "The use of masks is part of a comprehensive package of the prevention and control meas- ures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseas- es, including COVID-19…." It's right there, in WHO's interim guidance dated 5 July 2020. Clearly, then, masks are con- sidered more of a help than a hindrance by the world's lead- ing health authority. And judg- ing by the latest spike in new COVID-19 cases – 49 at the time of writing, which takes the total up to an ominous 311 – I'd say we could use all the help we can possibly get. So by appearing to openly defy that opinion on live TV… Rob- ert Abela was also (no doubt unwittingly) encouraging the rest of the population to like- wise question the use of wear- ing masks themselves: in all cir- cumstances, everywhere. For if our country's prime minister, no less, places such little faith in such precautions… well, why the heck should the rest of us go about things any differently? Ah. Now that it comes to it, there is actually an answer to that: and with an overwhelm- ing dose of irony, it was provid- ed by Chris Fearne at the very same press conference… when he announced his government's much-awaited new health reg- ulations, as agreed at the previ- ous evening's MCESD meeting. What do you know? Just a few moments after Robert Ab- ela justified his own refusal to wear a mask by quoting danger- ously outdated information… the Health Minister informed us that 'wearing masks' is now mandatory on public transport, at shops, at the airport and on board the Gozo ferry; and – more to the point – that failure to abide by this legal imposi- tion is now liable to a €50 fine (presumably, for lesser mortals only). And OK, granted: the press conference itself was not held at any of those venues… so Robert Abela was not tech- nically in breach of his own government's regulations, and therefore shouldn't be slapped with a €50 fine. But that's, um, kind of beside the point, really… and please note, I mean the whole point of Robert Abela's own press conference, which was (among other things) also to coax the general public into acceptance of what is, at the end of the day, an uncomfortable, intrusive and unpopular government im- position: no matter how benefi- cial in terms of health. And what better way to convince an already-sceptical public to obey such regulations, than by ignoring them your- self… and, more astonishingly still, even by openly disputing the very science on which they are supposed to be based? Besides: surely, the fear of a €50 fine should not be the on- ly reason the rest of us out here should willingly abide by these new guidelines. Surely, they were imposed upon us because the government really does be- lieve – presumably, on the ba- sis of expert advice - that they will, in fact, help minimise the spread of COVID-19 in this country… Well, that's precisely the problem: it becomes just that much more difficult to actu- ally place faith in such meas- ures, when the prime minister himself seems to be making a public mockery of them, at the very moment they are first an- nounced. Now: you might, by this point, think that I'm overinflating the issue just a little bit… and… yes, I'll admit that maybe I am. But there is a reason I found Abela's choice of facial attire significant enough to inflate in It becomes just that much more difficult to actually place faith in such measures, when the prime minister himself seems to be making a mockerry of them at the very moment they are announced