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3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 DECEMBER 2020 NEWS Christmas specials • COVID-19 tees to help maintain business liquidity. The first package was greeted with scepticism. Com- panies asked for more direct support to help them sustain wages in a situation where in- come dried up suddenly. Gov- ernment responded a week later by introducing a wage supple- ment of €800 per employee per month for the hardest-hit sec- tors. Crucially Malta also entered the crisis with a debt-to-GDP ratio of just over 40%, an im- provement over the 70% plus debt the country faced in 2013. This allowed the government enough room to manoeuvre comfortably. It enabled the gov- ernment to present a relatively generous budget in October, one which increases pensions and social benefits, stimulates consumption during the COV- ID-19 pandemic through vouch- ers and tax refunds, and retains the wage subsidies which have kept businesses afloat and jobs protected. All this was achieved without imposing any new tax- es. With a vaccine on the hori- zon, it seems that this recipe has worked. Still government was wary on imposing any burden on cat- egories like hoteliers and de- velopers, who had registered massive profits before COVID and still benefitted from an in- jection of government subsidies to keep afloat. Disposable foreigners and nervous natives The kitty left by Malta's eco- nomic growth in times of plenty saved the island but al- so exposed Malta's economic vulnerabilities and inequalities. The empathic public display of solidarity with front-liners in March contrasted with the pa- triotic display of flags on East- er Sunday, which coincided with loss of life of migrants left stranded in the sea after Malta and Italy closed their ports. The chasm between dispos- able and exposed foreigners and increasingly nervous natives has grown. But hundreds of migrant workers were on the frontline: sanitising hospitals, nursing, collecting rubbish, delivering food and driving buses and tax- is. Their underpaid work was more indispensable than ever. Others toiling in sectors like tourism were the first to feel the crunch. And irregular migrants living in open centres or in shared flats were more exposed to the virus due to the sheer im- possibility of maintaining social distance. Despite this contribution to the economy, foreigners were more easily perceived as a threat and possible source of disease. This made the Maltese even more insensitive to the plight of immigrants, who were left at sea as the Maltese government took a hard-line stance with the EU to stop their entry when ports were closed. Subsequently Abela even tried to blame the spike in cases at the start of the second wave on a number of boat arrivals, which included infected people. Moreover, the attempt to score political points by push- ing the migration button has returned to haunt Abela follow- ing the Captain Morgan fiasco which saw him backtrack as the EU refused to negotiate under duress, while immigrants were detained at sea for weeks. Yet any economic recovery will al- so depend on the contribution of foreign workers, something overlooked by Economy Min- ister Silvio Schembri who in March had to apologise after saying that if foreigners lose their jobs during the CIVUD-19 crisis, they would have to return home immediately or risk de- portation. Even Abela has made a utilitarian distinction between legal workers required for re- covery and asylum seekers who are solely to blame for Malta be- ing "full up". Onto the second wave Malta's orderly management of the first wave contrasted with the more chaotic handling of the second wave. As summer approached, in a misguided attempt to boost consumer confidence and rescue the tourism industry, Prime Minister Robert Abela dismissed the risk of a second wave with his ill-advised 'sea waves' comment. "Waves are only found in the sea, there's no need to strike up public fear of a second wave," he said on 17 May. Yet on that occasion it seemed the strategy had paid off as cas- es decreased even after the re- opening of retail shops, bars, restaurants and the airport. Fears of a second tsunami after the opening the national air- port did not materialise, since this was reasonably well con- trolled. Similarly, although the influx of COVID 19-positive migrants has increased absolute case numbers, this has had no impact on the subsequent dis- persal of the virus as all these individuals have been corralled immediately on arrival. But just as the country had managed to reduce active cas- es to three, the collective guard was lowered. The rush to reo- pen the country to tourism and entertainment places, triggered by pressures from the industry itself, has practically undone the sacrifices made in the first three months and put at risk the rest of the economy at risk. Not only were mass gatherings and parties allowed but also rules on the wearing of masks on buses were not even enforced. The stoppage of Gauci's daily bul- letins eliminated an important, non-partisan point of reference. And suddenly the priority shift- ed from containing the virus to kick-starting the economy: the consequence was a spike in cases. "Unquestionably, it has been mass gatherings ranging from family parties to day-long events that have ensured that the virus has been released into the general population," paedi- atrician Attard Montalto wrote. Things started to spiral out of control in August. As Malta registered what at that time was the highest ever batch of COV- ID-19 cases – 72 – Robert Abela was at the Marina di Ragusa in Sicily, where he enjoys boating weekends on his personal boat. By the time Malta's worrying spike hit the news at 12:30pm on Saturday, a video of Abela – a former bodybuilder – exer- cising in an outdoors spinning class at the marina, was going viral. Some well-wishers al- so managed to get some snaps with the PM. Leading paediatrician Simon Attard Montalto denounced Malta's strategy in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in a strongly worded editorial for the Malta Medical Journal that said Malta had managed then 'unmanaged' the pandemic. Despite the expected and "probably inevitable" second wave of COVID-19, Attard Montalto said that this had been aggravated by the govern- ment's over-eager wind-down, and "over-optimistic sound bites ensuring a false sense of security" and "downright ir- responsible actions allowing and even encouraging 'uncon- trolled' mass events." Still – Malta was more pre- pared to face a second wave; Increased spending on health services and ventilators, meant Malta was now more prepared than in March to meet any es- calation of the crisis in winter. Moreover, the much feared re-opening of schools did take place in an orderly fashion with no cases being registered in- volving child-to-child transmis- sion. Yet while hospitals were not overwhelmed, Malta lost more of its elderly citizens as winter set in. Enter the grim reaper A 92-year-old Gozitan wom- an – Ġorġa Zammit – become the first person to die from the virus on 8 April. Fewer than 20 people died between March and September but deaths have sky- rocketed since with the number of deaths surpassing the 100 mark by the middle of Novem- ber. In November Malta also saw the death of the youngest victim – popular Qormi mayor Renald Falzon, 46, who died just weeks after his father died from the virus. Over-65s who made the great- est sacrifices during the first wave were now taking the brunt of a second wave unleashed by partygoers. As the only catego- ry forced into total lockdown, they were more prone to men- tal health issues and loneliness. They also took the brunt in terms of deaths. COVID-19 weakened the solidarity between the riski- er, younger generation and the risk-averse older generations. The second wave was trig- gered by mass gatherings at- tended by younger people, who constituted the bulk of positive cases in August. That ended up threatening residents in old people's homes who account- ed for most cases in September and October. Moreover, the deaths of elder- ly people were often coupled with references to 'underlying conditions', which perpetu- ates the cruel perception that COVID-19 mainly only impacts people who would have passed away anyway. Although Malta continued to register over 100 new cases a day all through Autumn, the situation was stabilised by De- cember, with the authorities once again regaining control of the situation with the public complying to mandatory mask wearing. Moreover, with a vaccine on the horizon, government did change tack, ordering the clo- sure of bars at the end of Octo- ber, and extending the ban over the Christmas festivities. Unlike the United Kingdom, Germany and other Europe- an countries, Malta has so far avoided an even more dev- astating third wave although a post-festive spike may well again test the resilience of the national health system, which has emerged from the crisis as the nation's pride.