COVID - Time to ACT

As a small nation, we are in a Catch 22 situation. Will another quasi lockdown, help us keep the R rate (the transmission factor) low, and mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable? Or will a lockdown drive our economy to the wall and put us in a position not to be able to sustain our healthcare system?

Historically, we have always struggled with reflecting on our past, and designing our future. No time like now, is the best time to think of new ways of co-existing with this virus.  

The following are my thoughts on how we can progress as a nation, going forward.

1. Discipline. We need to set a very strict regime on how things are done. All that we've known and done so far is practically obsolete and needs to be redesigned to suit and fit our new reality. Life before February, is any longer applicable and therefore, basing anything on the status quo will only bear negative effects.
2. Protect our nation. We have never been thankful or appreciative enough of our island but nothing like the pandemic, made us realise that this is a God-given gift. Our geographical "limitation" is for sure, a blessing in disguise. A gift because it gives authorities total control on who enters and who exits our borders. We do not have thousands of kilometers of borders connecting us to other countries thus limiting our entry points to solely airports and sea ports. 
3. Support our industry.If one is going shopping, one should think twice on what is to be chosen but more importantly, we should choose local first. This should apply in everything we do at this point in time, not only while doing our shopping. The same applies when eating out. If one eats out twice a week, don’t always go to the same place, check new or recently opened restaurants and give them a try. Keep in mind the investment they just did to have the restaurant/shop available only to be told to close down or operate with less covers. 
4. Improve our product. Improving the product we have to offer to our audience (local or foreign) is a key element in the chain. The days of cheap and cheerful tourism are long gone (we had had a slight taste of this prior to COVID but now it is a must). The government needs to re-visit our Tourism License rules and regulations to have them updated to today’s required higher standards and make laws that hold both the restaurant owner and the inspector in question responsible of keeping to those rules. In this way people who had opened a pizza/pasta/grill 50years ago and have never changed a millimetre of their offering would be required to upgrade to a level that is adequate for both the local and the foreign customers. 
5. Think outside the box. Covid has made a large number of changes to the way we view life and the one crucial point which is seeing companies strive during these times is because they are thinking outside of the box. No one size fits all, no security in what anyone does but we can either sit down and cry our sorrows to death or stand up and get moving. 

It is clearly very evident, that very little thinking - if any at all - was done during lockdown. So much so that once all the bans were lifted, in most cases, it was all back to business as usual. As the adage goes, “milk it while its hot” but this time the milk dried out faster than anyone could ever think it could.  

The law and the authorities allowed for the industry that these people (DJs, Musicians, Artists, Event Organisers, Festa Organisers) work in to start operating as normal, just like the factory that employs 500 people was allowed to get them all back in on the production line in the same environment

The only difference is that these people (musicians etc…) had to also welcome foreign tourists within the same gathering which technically speaking they had no control on but unfortunately ended up taking the full blame for it.

With the closure of mass events why haven’t artists, musicians, drama companies been instead empowered to push towards smaller, outdoor settings to present their work? They might not earn the same amounts they would have previously, but it would encourage this industry to present its work, while also providing opportunities for all the technical people involved in lighting; audio; staging and so on.

Why do we always want to do the same exact thing we have done for the past 20 years? 

If 10 artists decide to do something for no more than 30 attendees in our village cores, in open air venues, 300 people would be present for the performances, while also giving space to small businesses in such areas, to do better. This would ensure that to some degree, our smaller and more vulnerable cultural sector, would not be practically decimated while ensuring that all health regulations are being adhered to. Events such as the APS Summer Festival in Valletta Waterfront, are an excellent example how a balance may be struck between cultural productions, while adhering to health regulations. It was a joy to see how they were able to keep the seats 2 metres apart with seats in sets of 2, with a lovely backdrop as the Grand Harbour. As part of this Festival, I have watched both an unplugged mini concert by Red Electrick and some locally-shot movies such as Simshar. Attendees definitely felt very safe and the event was done in a professional manner; respecting both the artists as well as all rules and regulations set out by the Health Authorities.

Another example would be having open-air drive-through cinemas in places such as Luxol Grounds, or possibly film festivals or musical concerts. 

As regards tourism and ensuring a COVID-safe destination, all hotels should be required to swab test all their employees on a daily basis to be allowed to operate. Tourists arriving in Malta, however, would be also required to have a swab test done upon arrival and required to stick to a specific program for the first 24-48hrs rather than quarantine (until the test results are out). They would be allowed to book an excursion from a specific list that is designed specifically for new arrivals including things such as non-stop bus tours around malta, day boat trips etc.... Such excursions would be specifically allowing solely tourists that arrived in the previous 24-48hrs on board thus ensuring that there is no contact with safe tourists or locals until they are considered “safe”and are given the green light, from the health authorities. If done well, the time frame might even be shorter. 

Some questions therefore arise:

• Why didn’t we impose swabbing at least 24hrs before being allowed to attend any event?
• Why did we have to legislate (with a delay), in order to make a move?
• Why didn’t we limit the amount of people inside tight spaces, such as clubs and parties? Why didn’t we limit the amount of people able to meet outdoors, at one go and without the use of masks and social distancing measures?
• Why didn’t we retain the appropriate contact tracing mechanisms that were in place, during the lockdown? 
• Why didn’t we ACT? 
• Why did we just REACT?
• Why do we always just react?

We (the industry) need to be the ones to ask for a change and no one else.

We cannot keep waiting for the government or the Authorities to ACT on these things. We need to be able to set the bar so high that the government will simply acknowledge such high standard and make it law not just wait passively around . Ultimately, the government in all its might is still a team of individuals who have 1 set of hands each and with all that is happening those hands are quite full so let’s stop waiting and START ACTING.

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