Four out of five newspapers in print today share their views on the easing of social restrictions announced last Monday by the Prime Minister.
The Times of Malta shares its views on the widely-debated proposal by the Prime Minister who suggested an amnesty for people fined in relation to Covid-19 social distancing transgressions, only to backtrack the following day on the measure. The Editorial argues that the restrictions protected medical staff and safeguarded the health infrastructure from the very real risk of being overrun by COVID-19. The very suggestion of an amnesty not only rubbishes these measures but ridicules the people behind them. The Editor insists that discipline is one thing this country desperately needs to beef up.
The Independent also takes the authorities to task on what it perceives as divergent positions on matters related to the relaxation of regulations. It wonders why people are allowed to gather together in restaurants, but not allowed to play football, as one example. The second, relates to the opening of a number of travel destinations, some of which require people coming from Malta to quarantine themselves for fourteen days. It also questions whether the celebratory statements that the war against coronavirus is over, hoping that Malta does not share the experience of other countries which had to re-introduce a number of measures after their relaxation.
Maltatoday also looks at the recent easing of restrictions but looks ahead to Summer, insisting that any expectations of a sudden return to normality would surely be misplaced. It calls for measures and initiatives to ensure that the summer months prove economically viable for operators before the onset of the influenza season: which, unhappily, also coincides with the start of the next scholastic year. The Editor argues that next Monday’s emergency budget must therefore look out for big business as well as for the smaller ones, who are now already coming to terms with operating on reduced hours, with reduced staff at reduced income.
L-Orizzont makes the argument that with a quasi-normality being achieved, the next step is to achieve trust. It also delves on the amnesty saga, expressing agreement that genuine cases should be considered. It recalls that the virus is still out there, and urges people to follow the recommendations of health authorities to the letter.
In-Nazzjon is the only daily to shift its attention from the current situation related to coronavirus, and focuses its Editorial on what is describes as a culture of impunity, with the Editor noting the irony that a young female officer was ‘investigated’ for sharing a short online video while major politicians and power-brokers remain scot free despite damning allegations on their head. It also calls for justice with regards to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
