85% satisfied with Malta’s handling of pandemic, EU survey

Satisfaction with the government’s handling of pandemic has increased from 53% in February to 85% in May 2021, making the Maltese the most satisfied nation in Europe with their government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only 46% of respondents in all EU member states replied that they were satisfied with their national government’s handling of pandemic.

This emerges from a survey conducted by the European Commission’s Eurobarometer, which was conducted in all EU member states in the end of May.

While 47% of Maltese were very satisfied with their government’s performance during the pandemic, a further 38% were fairly satisfied. Only 12% of the Maltese were dissatisfied.

The next most satisfied with their national government’s performance were the Luxembourgers, the Portuguese and the Danes. But while 85% of Maltese respondents were very or fairy satisfied, the rate of satisfaction falls to 73% in Luxembourg, 73% in Portugal and 69% in Denmark.

The least satisfied with their government’s handling of the pandemic were the Slovaks (26%), the Latvians (27%), the Slovenians (28%) and the Poles (32%).

Surprisingly the level of satisfaction was higher in Italy (57%) which lost most people in the early stages of the pandemic than in Germany (39%) where deaths were more contained.

The Maltese were also the most satisfied with the way the EU handled the pandemic with 75% of Maltese expressing a positive judgement. The least satisfied with the EU’s handling of the pandemic were the Germans (32%) and the French (36%).

Among respondents in all member states 47% were satisfied with the EU’s response.

86% of the Maltese also replied that they were already vaccinates or intended to do so as soon as possible. This was the highest rate in the EU. Only 4% of Maltese would never get vaccinated in contrast to 23% of Bulgarians and 18% of Croatians and Latvians.

A comparison with previous surveys suggests that a stricter approach to the pandemic paid off in restoring trust in the government, which was previously in free-fall. This was followed by an orderly lifting of measures and one of the best vaccination rollouts in the world.

A Eurobarometer survey held at the peak of the second wave last February showed that only 53% were satisfied by the measures taken by the national government to fight the coronavirus pandemic, down from 92% registered in the previous summer after the pandemic’s first wave.

The 39-point decline in satisfaction with anti-COVID measures was also corresponded by a nine-point dip in the government’s trust rating.

The survey coincided with a surge of cases and deaths in February and March particularly after 510 cases were registered in a single day.

Moreover, the decline in satisfaction with regards t§o COVID measures is also reflected in a lower trust rating for government in the same period.

The survey shows that trust in national government in Malta dipped from 58% last summer to 49% in the latest survey.

This mirrored a similar decline registered in a MaltaToday survey held during the same timeframe which was reversed in subsequent month during which PM Robert Abela recovered his trust lead as the Maltese become more satisfied by his handling of the pandemic.