Changing the way we live and work is not something that came about easily at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indeed switching to remote and teleworking for many was no easy task. Covid-19 brought the country to a standstill. 2020 passed by in the blink of an eye, with Covid being the daily issue dominating everyone’s lives. The same can be said of 2021 so far.

The tragedy brought about by this virus cannot be put into words.

Thankfully we have the vaccines now, and hopefully some form of post-Covid normality can soon be reached.

But there are a few things we should consider when looking ahead towards this new future. While adapting to teleworking was not easy, it does bring with it certain benefits. First of all, those workers who have babies at home could work from home, thus meaning that they are more likely to remain in the workforce.

While some people thrive in the workplace, others are more productive working in a more comfortable environment, that from their homes. Thus moving forward, companies really should consider continuing to offer the possibility of remote working or teleworking where possible to their employees. It can, for some, create a better work-life balance. Such arrangements can work as long as coordination with colleagues remains high. Of course the negative side is perhaps not knowing when to cut off.

Turning to the tourism sector, Malta has for years been talking about the move towards more quality tourists rather than focusing on quantity, given the toll this was having on the island due to its small size. The tourism industry could consider rebooting Malta with a focus on quality tourists in the near future, after things stabilise out a bit, rather than focusing on making Malta a tourism destination for low spenders.

Being unable to spend too much time in commercial establishments, people took to the outdoors more than ever before. This has brought about recognition of just how important green open spaces are, and how people want open areas filled with trees. Perhaps the government will now start to take the environment more seriously, and possibly rethink the layout of certain projects, like the barren Ta’ Qali national park proposal.

In terms of the economy, the government supported businesses throughout the pandemic, and this was sorely needed and appreciated. One concern is, however, that businesses might have become too used to government support. Businesses will now need to start thinking about how to no longer rely on such support in order to again become competitive and push forward to succeed.

The country must also consider rethinking the way it operates. Rampant construction, for instance, became a hot point during the past year and a half, mainly due to the noise when people were stuck at home from such sites, the lack of open areas, the dust and so on. Urban area design has never been so important, and so many areas are just not appealing to the eye.

The years ahead will not be easy. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused much concern, much tragedy and has had a major negative impact on Malta. But the country must push on. While restarting the country to tackle the years ahead, we should seriously consider the changes we want to make when compared to how things were done in the past, and work towards a better future.