2020 has been a challenging year. While Covid-19 dominated the news, causing concern to billions of people around the globe, there is now hope as vaccines begin to be administered.

People are still on edge, but also have faith that this situation might soon be behind us. Indeed, many lessons have been learnt from all of this, chief of which is the importance of being grateful for what we have and just how important our ties to one another are.

But looking ahead, we hope that 2021 can bring about a lot of change, after all we have learnt much from the virus.

We have learnt just how important the environment we live in is and just how few open green spaces we actually have. We hope that the government can hear our cries and feel our anger at overdevelopment in this country and perhaps change its ways.

We have also truly discovered the possibilities of teleworking and the benefits it could bring, being able to work from home while being with family. This style of work should continue to be offered where possible.

The pandemic has also resulted in many parents helping out with their children’s schoolwork more, especially when schools were closed early in 2020. Involving yourself in your child’s education is a positive thing, despite the challenges you may feel it brought.

The strength of the European Union was also in the spotlight, showing just how effective it can be in a crisis, helping all 27 member states acquire a unified agreement on the vaccines for example. We are stronger together than apart. Without the union at our backs, Malta would unlikely have gotten the vaccine so soon.

We all look forward to removing our masks, hugging our friends and visiting our elderly relatives without issue, but until the health authorities give the all-clear, we must continue to abide by the regulations. The start of 2021 will not see everything go back to normal, but the hope is that by midyear we might be at that point.

But 2020 was not just about the pandemic. The beginning of the year saw a new Prime Minister take over. It was not an easy year for him. In many ways he still needs to prove himself. He made some good calls during the pandemic, but also some abysmal ones, such as allowing mass events in summer. There is also, of course, the question of his actions when it comes to tackling scandals by his Cabinet members, of which his reaction has been poor. One hopes that in 2021 he would be able to take swifter action on such issues. His tackling of the economic situation during the pandemic has been, however, very good. While falling short of truly supporting businesses early on, the government listened and did well. The wage supplement and the vouchers have proved particularly effective tools.

A new Opposition Leader was elected in 2020. He too also still has to show his worth. His tax issues prior to becoming leader were questionable, but the latest scandal involving the Prime Minister and tax commissioner is far worse and require a high-level investigation. It could have dire consequences, and this is something which must be undertaken in 2021.