There is a real possibility that much of the hard work and effort made over the past few months has been erased by irresponsible behaviour over the festive period, particularly the New Year’s weekend.

Anyone who went to Gozo this week saw the never-ending queues of vehicles waiting to board the ferry, stretching several kilometres. This was a clear sign that, despite the advice of the authorities, many people chose to congregate together at rental accommodation, in flagrant breach of social distancing guidelines.

To further prove this, the social media was awash with photos and videos of large indoor gatherings. In many cases, it was quite clear that these were not members of the same households but rather groups of friends who got together to drink, eat, and mingle as they ushered in the New Year. In some instances, these groups were up to 30-strong.

And this did not only happen in Gozo, by the way. It happened all over the country.

Places like Valletta and Paceville saw social distancing and public gathering laws completely ignored. To make matters worse, violent fights broke out at the two locations, requiring a heavy police intervention. Such incidents do not only jeopardise the safety of the public but also of the officers who are called in to restore order.

While we understand that now that the vaccine has arrived and its distribution has started, people are feeling more confident – as if the storm has passed – the advice from those who have been guiding us through the pandemic for the past nine months has not changed. They were very clear, in fact. They told us to avoid unnecessary mixing and situations where the virus can be transmitted.

Drinking games and platter-sharing by large groups of people were certainly not in line with that advice.

We do not wish to sound like party poopers, but there is a real possibility now that we will see a new spike in daily cases. The situation could be made even worse after Malta saw its first cases of the mutated version of the virus, which spreads far faster than the one we had so far.

Thankfully, many of our medical personnel have already received the vaccine and the process to vaccinate the elderly has also started. The vaccination drive has also kicked off in Gozo. But this does not mean that everything is fine.

In fact, the number of vaccinations given so far is still very limited and vaccinating the entire population may take up to six months. Until then, we need to remain vigilant but, unfortunately, not everyone is being so careful.

It is unfortunate to note that these large gatherings took place despite the passionate appeals by some of our top doctors, like the head of the emergency department, who warned that if people are not careful, they might get to meet him at Mater Dei’s A&E unit in two weeks’ time.

These are people who know what they are talking about. They have been treating Covid-19 patients since March. They have seen over 200 people die from it. They did not warn us to be careful just to try to suck the fun out of New Year’s Eve.

The numbers are on their side, too. We have seen cases increase again over the past few days. There were 115 new cases on Tuesday, 124 on Wednesday, 109 on Thursday and 135 on Friday. People are still dying on a daily basis.

And the vaccine will not change this situation overnight.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said in his message for the New Year that he wants the country to be back to ‘business as usual’ by May. If we really want to achieve that aim, we cannot veer off course. A country’s economy is only as healthy as its workforce and experiencing another sharp spike in infections, which naturally leads to more quarantining, will not help us reach that target.

This sudden nonchalance and flagrant disregard of the rules is unfair on the rest of society. It is unfair on our front liners, who have sacrificed so much over the past months. It is unfair on the elderly, who remain in an ever-perilous situation. It is unfair on sectors of the economy, like bars and clubs, which have been shut down for months and will remain so for at least a few more weeks.

And it is unfair on all of us who have followed the rules and keep doing so, eager to go back to our normal lives like everyone else.

Once again, we appeal to the public: be patient, be careful, and keep society safe. It will not be much longer now.