Malta has truly made great progress in the way it is handling the Covid-19 vaccine.

There were only four new cases yesterday, and only one case was found the day before.

The daily numbers are at their lowest ever since the pandemic reached Malta’s shores in March of last year.

Whereas a few weeks back we reached a peak of over 500 new cases in a day, and the infection rate was threatening to bring about a collapse of the entire healthcare system, the situation is now mostly under control.

The number of active cases is now well below 200, and this is not a result of reduced testing. In fact, around 2,000 tests are still being performed daily.

The Covid reproduction number, or r-factor, has gone down to 0.38, as statistician Vince Marmara explains in his weekly rundown for The Malta Independent on Sunday.

More importantly, there have been no Covid-related deaths for over a week.

Over 136,000 people have been fully vaccinated and 280,000 have received at least their first dose.

The vaccination drive is moving at a very fast pace and registration for over 16s opens tomorrow.

Despite initial hitches and complaints, and despite some waiting times at the larger vaccination centres, such as the university, the progress is moving in a very fast and efficient manner. Most of the time, people get the jab and leave within a few minutes of arriving.

Some sort of normality has been restored with the reopening of restaurants, which will see their operating hours extended to midnight in a few days’ time. Bars will also be reopening next week. Schools are back in operation and life is slowly but surely returning to normal.

Apart from the obvious positive effect on consumers, who will now have a different way of spending their evenings and weekends, this is also a very welcome step for business owners, at least those who have not already closed down for good.

The next round of vouchers, which is to be issued soon, will undoubtedly help boost consumption and provide some much-needed relief for the business sector.

These achievements are also leading to a positive change in our tourism status. Over the past 24 hours, both Denmark and the Netherlands have declared Malta to no longer be a high-risk Covid-19 area.

This means that tourists returning from Malta, and also Maltese visiting these countries do not have to quarantine upon arrival. Germany was also among the countries that no longer deem Malta to be a high-risk country.

One now hopes that this change in scenario will lead the UK – our biggest tourism market – to also revise Malta’s status and allow non-restricted travel between the two countries.

It might not happen soon, however, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying on Friday that the UK government will be maintaining a very very tough border regime for the foreseeable future. 

If this happens, the tourism sector will bounce back sooner than expected, even if this will not be an overnight process.

All in all, things are moving in the right direction. One must naturally be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Mass events should still be banned for the time being, seeing that not all foreign countries have vaccine rates as high as or similar to Malta’s.

One wrong step can do a lot of damage and this is something that must be avoided at all costs.

But, all in all, the authorities must be lauded for the way in which they have handled such an unprecedented situation.

While there were miscommunication problems in the beginning, and some decisions were arguably taken for political convenience, rather than public health exigiencies, lessons have been learnt and the public today feels more comfortable trusting the health authorities, and the politicians, in the way they are handling the pandemic.

After all, the results speak for themselves.