Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1391768
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JULY 2021 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS THE PN has denounced the government's plans to make COVID-19 vaccination manda- tory for travel as "extreme" and discriminatory towards those who are unable to be vaccinat- ed, reiterating its proposals for measures that it said the gov- ernment had ignored. "In its panic, the government has now quickly imposed ex- treme measures that discrimi- nate against people who cannot get vaccinated such as children, pregnant women, vulnerable people, and people who live in countries where the vaccina- tion rate is not high," the PN said yesterday. Earlier this week, the PN had proposed that vaccinated trav- ellers be made to present a neg- ative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure, whilst un- vaccinated travellers be made to present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of de- parture and also submit them- selves to a second PCR test up- on arrival in Malta. It had also suggested better logistics to prevent the crowds and chaotic scenes seen at air- ports over the past weeks. Malta will require all trav- ellers to present a recognised form of vaccination certifica- tion as of next Wednesday, July 14, following a sudden rise in virus cases in the past few days. The PN said that the sudden spike could have been foreseen, but that it had not been catered for logistically "as was evident from the chaos seen at the air- port and ports," as well as the confusion over vaccine certifi- cation. Health authorities have since increased the number of desks processing passengers at the airport's arrivals hall to 21, from the previous eight. The order to shut down Eng- lish language schools as of next Wednesday following the discovery of several clusters of cases among language stu- dents was taken too hastily, the PN said, arguing that language schools should be allowed to continue operating, however only to vaccinated students. PN: Opening to vaccinated tourists only 'extreme' and 'discriminatory' MATTHEW AGIUS THE Federation of English Language Teaching Organi- sations in Malta (FELTOM) has reacted with shock and disbelief at the government's decision to close English lan- guage schools in the wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases amongst foreign students. The association con- demned what it says is the lack of direction from gov- ernment with regards the thousands of clients already on the island who have been left with no guidance. "FELTOM and its member schools were unprepared and shocked by the Govern- ment's unexpected and rigid decision to close down ELT schools. The sudden an- nouncement of the closure of a specific section of the tourism market will be prob- lematic not only for language schools but also for the en- tire tourism sector and other stakeholders, not to mention the greater EU tourism mar- ket. "This sudden unilateral de- cision by the Government sends out a message that a cluster that did not emerge from any breach of proto- cols by operators within their schools, can lead to such disproportionate and extreme measures. Inevita- bly this will have significant economic consequences to the entire tourism industry, its employees and its stake- holders." The organisation said that while it respected the deci- sion to restrict entry to Malta to fully vaccinated persons, it felt that the government had not allowed adequate time to the affected stakeholders to manage this sudden reversal of policies for all tourism. "We feel that this is a dras- tic reaction reached by the Government without proper consultation with the stake- holders of the consequences and implications on the ELT Schools, its employees, its students (present and future) and all the stakeholders. Even with fully vaccinated tourists we can expect that similar clusters will occur in hotels and other tourist establishments and we ask to what extent will Govern- ment take similar measures to close these operators. "Our member schools have, under the constant direc- tion of, and collaboration with, the Public Health, im- plemented and followed the rules and guidelines as out- lined by the authorities. Rest assured that the ELT Schools have invested enormous re- sources in terms of time, money, manpower and ma- terials so that their schools operate within the parame- ters of these guidelines." While the schools have im- pressed on their employees and students the importance of adhering to the measures, including mask wearing and social distancing while in public, FELTOM com- plained that the reinforce- ment of such measures by the government "has been barely visible, bearing in mind that it is only govern- ment that has the authority to enforce such measures." FELTOM argued that the closure of all ELT schools was not warranted especial- ly in view of the fact that the Government was now going to restrict entry to Malta to fully vaccinated persons in line with EU issued certifi- cates. "Schools should be allowed to remain open like all other public institutions to these vaccinated visitors. Most schools have actually done this successfully in the last 15 months or so without an increase in COVID-19 cases in Malta," FELTOM said. Caught off guard: Language school federation condemns sudden closures 'Drastic reaction' without proper consultation with ELT stakeholders of consequences and implications