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24.09.2020 6 OPINION Kevin-James Fenech Kevin is the founder and owner of JOB Search - jobsearch.mt and FENCI Consulting fenci.eu. He is a management consultant and business advisor by profession, focusing on strategy, human resources and recruitment. He has a passion for anything related to business and has written about the topic for over 10 years in most major newspapers or journals I literally feel like we are stuck in a Monty Python film. e Chamber of Commerce wants a '…brief period of height- ened restrictions…' Code for an- other semi-lockdown? e Chamber also wants '… the reduction of size of public gatherings, wearing of masks at all times outside of homes and active encouragement of remote working wherever pos- sible….'!? e Malta Union of Teachers is demanding that schools re- main closed, so our kids effec- tively remain 'home prisoners' trying to acquire the school experience and learn through a virtual screen. e government through MITA just launched a COV- ID19 contact tracing app which will enable 'proximity tracing' of Maltese citizens which is reminiscent of the Orwellian 'Big Brother is Watching'. We now also have rumours of the rushed vaccine being made mandatory in the EU next year and refusal by a EU citizen to be vaccinated will mean having one's freedom of movement se- verely curtailed. COVID19 restrictions and laws are sprouting everywhere in Europe and we are literal- ly witnessing the greatest in- fringement on human liber- ty in recent times yet no one dares raise an objection or ask the big question: Why? e latest numbers show us that whilst infections are on the rise in Europe, the num- ber of deaths are remarkably low. Furthermore, mortality of COVID19 remains 0.6%. I mean for those under 50 you are more likely to be hit by a bus than contract a fatal dose of COVID19! Yet governments all over Eu- rope edge closer to lockdowns or semi-lockdowns. How can you have an eco- nomic recovery when 'eco- nomic friction' is being legislat- ed and institutionalised under the guise of COVID19 public health restrictions and regula- tions. In economic theory, 'econom- ic friction' is what prevents or hinders the laws and forces of supply and demand from op- erating freely. You simply can not have a recovery with wide- spread 'economic friction'. Fact. e business owner or inves- tor will not invest; the employ- er will not employ or maintain a pre-COVID19 headcounts; and the banks will severely re- duce their appetite to lend. You just can not tell workers and school children to all stay at home. You also can restrict peoples' freedoms and liberties and not expect 'economic fric- tion' to derail the economic re- covery. Combined, this is bad for the economic recovery. Yet the Chamber of Com- merce now seems to be push- ing for 'heightened restric- tions' as if in cahoots with Dr. Fear. Why!? Whose interests is it representing? For those of us from the 'balanced approach' school of thought our recommend- ed approach is different and it is based on rational, objec- tive and proportionate deci- sion-making. We need to adopt a blank cheque approach to protecting the vulnerable and over 60's; to make their lives as comforta- ble and safe as possible; money here should almost be unlimit- ed. Notwithstanding, I would balance this with the rest of the population resuming nor- mal life with barely any public health restrictions (children go to school and workers go to work). e fact of the matter is that 82% of people are symp- tomatic and the risk of them needing hospital treatment is extremely low. We therefore must get back to normal life and the very low mortality rate of this virus al- lows us to do so. Failure to do so, will mean unnecessary eco- nomic hardship and a genera- tion of children losing out on their education. Furthermore, I would like to ask the 'experts' what is the top killer in Malta: Is it heart disease, cancer or COVID19? Clue: It isn't COVID19. According to official statistics in the UK, flu and pneumonia are roughly ten times more lethal than COVID19 i.e. for every 1 person that dies from the COVID19 virus another 10 die from flu and pneumonia. COVID19 accounts for an av- erage of 11 of 1,687 deaths in Britain every day. By compar- ison, Heart disease accounts for 460 deaths per day, while cancer kills an average of 450 people per day. You then have dementia (240 people a day) followed by lung disease (84 per day). I am sure that in Mal- ta the top list of killers is simi- lar to that of the UK and more importantly COVID19 ranks low. Yet we demand or insist on more public health restrictions because of COVID19, fur- ther economic friction and/or 'heightened restrictions'. Give us all a break, pelase. I mean this is equivalent to banning all cars on Maltese roads because 'x' amout of people die every year from road accidents. Personally, I find all this sur- real; as if we are living a Mon- ty Python film: "We interrupt this program to annoy you and make things generally more ir- ritating." is pretty much sums the matter sadly. Common sense, rational thought and propor- tionate decision making sus- pended until we film this Mon- ty Python episode. Monty Python's Flying Circus

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