Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1440864
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 T he changes that came into force on Mon- day on quarantine conditions for those who test positive for COVID-19 and their contacts are more than welcome. The reduction in quarantine for the vacci- nated not only gives value to the choice peo- ple make to get inoculated but also relieves some of the stress caused to workplaces by the exponential surge in cases of recent weeks. Businesses have been facing problems to de- liver optimal services as a result of the large number of people required to quarantine, either because they are infected or because they were contacts of known infections. Cutting quarantine will help mitigate the blow. But this step must not be the last. A contin- uous evaluation of the pandemic's evo-lution is necessary to determine whether the quar- antine periods can be reduced even further, especially now that even children aged be- tween 5 and 11 are getting inoculated. Despite the surge in COVID cases, the situ- ation today is a far cry from what it was a year ago. Despite the high number of new infec- tions, hospitalisations have re-mained man- ageable and the number of patients requiring treatment in ITU is very low. Moreover, the severity of most new infec- tions is much reduced with many people re- porting mild cold-like symptoms that pass after two or three days. These developments require a different methodology when tackling the pandemic, which is why reducing the quarantine period makes sense. Within this context, it remains of utmost importance that the vaccination pro-gramme continues unabated. The health authorities have to engage in a targeted information campaign to en-cour- age people to get the booster dose and for parents to inoculate their children. Vaccination is part of the reason why the current situation is tenable despite the rising number of cases. While this leader believes that mandatory vaccination could be counterproductive in a country like Malta with a high take-up rate, giving value to vaccinations re-mains imper- ative. The rules that should come into force on 17 January that make it a requirement to show a vaccine certificate to enter certain establish- ments are good. They should be maintained at least until the numbers start to go down. But the rules have to be accompanied with effective enforcement to avoid a situa-tion where non-compliant establishments com- pete unfairly with those making the extra ef- fort to comply. Government should also consider giving es- tablishments a one-off grant for any in-vest- ment required to ensure compliance. As things stand today getting tested to de- termine whether one has COVID-19 is cre- ating an undue expense on individuals. Gov- ernment testing centres are unable to cope with demand and appointments are given too far into the future, creating difficulties for employees and workplaces. The alternative is private testing centres, however rapid tests come at a cost of €35, which makes it prohibitive for whole families to get tested. The health authorities must look into the option of self-testing kits that are being used abroad. These are cheap and can be bought even from supermarkets. In Mal-ta, they re- main illegal. Having these cheap tests could provide a quick testing system for individuals, giv-ing them the necessary results immediately. To ensure these tests are not abused by em- ployees, an employer may ask for at least one positive test result of a family member ob- tained from a recognised test-ing centre. The underlying rationale must be one that encourages the quick return to normali-ty in all aspects of the country's social and eco- nomic life. Being practical in the measures adopted will foster compliance, peace of mind and award the common-sense approach adopted by many to get vaccinated. Getting practical to move forward 6.1.2022