An update on the infected numbers, another check on the number of high dependency beds being made available, the state of play at the ITU, a meeting with frontline doctors, a conference call with the health ministers of other EU countries, a bringing up to speed conversation with the prime minister and the finance minister, a call from an elderly constituent living alone…
It is not even mid-day. Yet, all of the above is already water under the bridge as far as my day, every day, under the rule of COVID-19, is concerned. No one gave the virus authority to try to run, or rather ruin, this country. It is us, this government, battling to prevent it from doing so. And battling it we are, with all our might.
Yet, today please allow me a few minutes to take off my deputy prime ministerial and ministerial hats. I just wish to make a simple, yet powerful point. With very few exceptions, this crisis has brought out the best in us Maltese. This country has risen to the occasion at meteoric speed.
The great hardships, massive inconveniences and the threat to our health from this invisible enemy, have unearthed what it really means to be a citizen of this great country of ours. Allow me a moment to celebrate it. Crowning all the local virtues rising to the surface at this time is our sense of solidarity. On a daily basis I am coming across random acts of kindness. A young couple helping out with the shopping of two elderly brothers living next door. A mother who recorded her son’s online math lesson for the boy who used to sit next to him in class, but had to miss the lesson.
A middle-aged man who went out at midnight to fix his sister-in-law’s heater.
Then there are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, policemen and, so many other front liners working way, way beyond the call of duty. They are the ones risking facing and fighting the virus every day to prevent you from getting it.
I also deeply appreciate our renewed and vigorous sense of community and neighbourhood which is too powerful to be contained inside. Let’s face it, the Maltese spirit is not made for the indoors. So what do we do? We create street parties in our respective socially distant balconies. Equally encouraging is our particular humour which is being manifested in all its irreverent glory on the social media.
COVID-19 has also brought out how innovative we can be when the need arises. Necessity is the mother of invention and innovation. Entrepreneurs and their employees whose businesses allowed them to, have been quick on the draw and have turned things around to try to remain afloat. Restaurants became takeaways and started delivering. All sorts of shops hauled themselves online virtually overnight. Artists are entertaining people and gym instructors are training them in cyberspace. It really is as extraordinary as the circumstances we are living in.
And then there has been the almost instantaneous uptake of technology. In a matter of a few days, schools started teaching online and the kitchen became the classroom. Board meetings started to be conducted through videoconferencing, as the suit and tie gave way to the tracksuit.
Finally, it is genuinely heart-warming to observe in full display the patriotism we normally bury under the million things we argue and divide ourselves into tribes over. Today, the red and white flutters with pride and hope more than ever.
With that, my few minutes celebrating you are up. It’s time to go back to COVID-19. Let us all continue to tap into who we really are: a strong nation, men, women and families who rise to the occasion when their country calls them. Stay safe.
Chris Fearne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health
This article appeared on The Sunday Times on April 4th 2020
