The government’s handling of the Coronavirus situation in Malta thus far must be praised, with the health authorities quickly upping the number of available beds and a flurry of measures taken by the government to attempt to slow down the spread.

Indeed its gradual approach in terms of implementing measures is the right way to go, as it gave people a chance to prepare, whereas a quick country-wide lockdown could have had some serious repercussions in the short, medium and long-term.

This is not to say that the government couldn’t better handle some situations, such as the incident outside of Identity Malta where around 200-300 people were left locked outside waiting without anyone giving them any information, but obviously one is bound to make some mistakes. If the idea is not cluster large groups of people, then that situation is an example of what should not happen.

Aside from that, things have gone as smoothly as one could expect in such trying times. The government introduced mandatory quarantine for everyone coming from abroad, and while this will undoubtedly have an impact on the tourism sector, it was a needed move. While taking the gradual approach has been criticised by some, at least it gave the tourism industry a few extra days to see this coming. Some have criticised that the government was too slow in implementing this particularly in Italy’s case, and perhaps it was, but one can never be certain.

The government has now announced measures to try and help private industry, such as the suspension of provisional tax, VAT and social security contributions which businesses are due to pay to the government. Whether these measures will be enough or if more are needed remains to be seen, and while the government should continue helping businesses in these difficult times, must not break the bank.

One point of concern has been the ‘bulk buying’ by the Maltese ever since the outbreak locally, and the government has tried to calm this situation. There is, of course, only so much the government could do in this regard. The government and the health authorities have also done a very good job of educating the public on preventative measures, such as highlighting the importance of washing your hands.

The limiting of large public gatherings was also an important step taken, as this will help, hopefully, prevent a mass spread of the virus.

The most vulnerable in our society have also been thought of, and the government at first limited visiting hours for elderly homes, but then stopped all visits. While this is good in terms of limiting the elderly from coming into contact with the virus and thus is necessary for their protection, one cannot help but take not of the negative effects of such a move. The elderly are a sector of the population that suffer from loneliness, and thus family members must do their part and try and call more often until this situation passes.

It is good to note that the private sector is also doing its part, as an example, some businesses have already started working from home voluntarily, or introducing other measures to help limit the amount of people grouped at the office.

People in the country are working with a common goal in mind, to prevent the spread of the outbreak. On the whole, the government’s reaction to this global problem has been a good one.

Ultimately, medical professionals are on the front line, and they must be praised for their constant effort to help patients and their handling of the virus situation in Malta.