I’m still concerned that the estimates being advanced about the damage that the corona virus pandemic has been causing are low. Not just for Malta, but across the board.

I understand the need for prudence. It would be a mistake to allow exagerrations to colour such work. For it is also necessary to prevent people from beginning to lose hope and courage.

However up to now, the provisional estimates that were put forward regarding the negative consequences of the pandemic all needed to be revised upwards. This might have resulted in governments finding that the measures they had introduced right from the start were too onerous and would not be sustainable over the period that the pandemic is now expected to last. Maltese finance minister Scicluna rightly said that the best approach is to scale relief measures prudently so that they can then be carried over into the longer term.

By contrast, lower range forecasts can also lead decision makers to underestimate the problem and the so-called financial bazooka set up to fight it turns out to be inadequate.

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NURSES FROM INDIA

We’ve been told that some 200 nurses will be arriving in Malta from India to help contain here the corona virus pandemic.

One cannot but praise the government’s initiative in arriving at such an arrangement.

Even so, there is a comment that must be made: As of now in India, corona virus is raging. It has made huge inroads and spread all over the country, which is actually a continent. Many people, mostly among the poor, are dying. Reports say that there exists an acute shortage of medical personnel, including doctors and nurses.

How is it then that nurses are leaving the country at this point in time?

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THE LIBYAN SITUATION

With the passage of time, the situation in Libya grows more confused. If the news we get is correct, sometimes the Haftar forces are gaining the upper hand, while at other times, it’s the “government” that enjoys international recognition that goes on top. Meanwhile, the siege of Tripoli has continued.

It used to be said that the corona virus pandemic would not penetrate easily into Libya for too few people would be entering the country, plagued as it is already by civil war. I always found this claim a bit curious. But anyway, now apparently COVID 19 is also present in Libya.

Meanwhile, according to Maltese foreign affairs minister Evarist Bartolo, more than 600,000 refugees living in Libya want to cross over to Europe.

Clearly, the situation is explosive. The “easiest” way by which to defuse it is via a military solution, which though would bring in its wake new perils. Moreover, without some powerful foreign intervention, such a solution would be a non-starter. No one wants to make the attempt. After all Libya is in the state it is in today as a result of strong military interventions from outside.

It is difficult to see how Libya can evade the pandemic without enduring more suffering than it has already endured and still is. The Libyan people deserve better.