Covid 19 infects more than 20 people, overwhelms the country
On Monday, March 9, Albanian health authorities confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus or more specifically Covid-19 infected people who had travelled from Italy via the Montenegrin border. The number has totaled 23 people and the week has also seen the first victim, an elderly women in Durres who had also travelled to north Italy. The government announced immediately a number of measures that limit social interactions and internal movements. The health authorities are advising all people not to rush to the hospitals but call the emergency line instead.
On Thursday the government banned also the use of private cars from Friday until Sunday midnight as well as a total ban on travel between cities. Only medical and emergency transport vehicles will be allowed. The state police and army police are already setting checkpoints and conducting routine checks to seek out people who are not in self-quarantine after travelling from infection source countries.
Extraordinary limitations on all public activities
The government incrementally has severely limited the social interactions by prohibiting all rallies and conventions, conferences, sports and cultural events as well as closing down bars, restaurants, public transport in the areas of Tirana and Durres. Non complying business will be fined up to 2 million lek (about 1650 euro). All schools and universities will be closed at least until March 23 and the Ministry of education has called to teachers to continue with the teaching process via social media and online. The public administration has received permission to take leave especially for the parents of young children who are now out of school. The administration is calling also for the private sector to consider giving leave to employees.
Travel to Italy completely shut down
Travel to and from Italy via air and sea has shut down in a measure that many have evaluated as delayed. In the beginning the government set checkups in the arrival points and asked people to self- quarantine however many cases of non-compliance were registered. Later on the government announced that the police will do controls hand fine people up to 5000 euro for this misdemeanor. However hundreds of people from Italy managed to get in in the meantime and they have proven to be the source of the virus for the majority of other cases identified.
Religious and civil ceremonies on hold
The Albanian Muslim community suspends until further notice the communal Friday prayers as well as other forms of collective organizations and worship. The same has been declared also by the orthodox and catholic churches in an attempt to confine the spread of the virus. In addition the municipal authorities have called for people to refrain from attending funeral sand to postpone weddings.
Political skirmishes on the management of the crisis
The majority and opposition in the meanwhile have been at loggerheads about the overall impact and quality of crisis management measures. The opposition has accused the majority of not putting in place the necessary funds for the health sector and also for using expired face masks. Health experts claim that the simple masks are still operational even beyond the expiry date. Moreover former MPs of the opposition claim that the government is doing much more propaganda than real action. Not all proposals have been contradicted though. After the leader of the DP called for more serious consideration of relief measures relevant to the existing financial obligations that business and individuals have, Prime Minister Rama said that the mortgage payments were also under consideration. Following this the central Bank announced that the commercial banks will be asked to freeze mortgage payment for a period of three months. In neighboring Italy mortgages are suspended until further notice.
Expected impact on economy puts experts on alert
The suspension and reduction of economic activities and the large scale cancellations in the tourism and services sector as well as the worrisome global economic context has experts very much worried about the economic prospect of the country. Already suffering from the consequences of the major earthquake, the area of Tirana and Durres is particularly hit. Experts additionally argue that this region accounts for at least one third of the total population and about half the GDP so it is paramount that strategies are set accordingly to avoid large scale recession.
Virus present in the region except Montenegro and Kosovo
Case of coronavirus have been reported in the region first in Bosnia and then north Macedonia, a few days prior to Albania, and finally in Serbia. For the moment Kosovo and Montenegro are the only ones in the list with no confirmed cases. However as a preventive measure the Kosovo government decided to shut down schools for a period of two weeks and is considering other control measures to be put in place given that the likelihood of having the virus circulating in the population is very high.
President Meta approves 3 members of the High Court
President Ilir Meta issued a decree making the appointment of three new members of the High Court official. The three new judges are Ervin Pupe, Sokol Sadushaj and Ilir Panda. The High Court has been functioning with a lot of difficulty due to the lack of quorum for most cases. The fulfillment of the number of the necessary judges in this court has been designed as one of the key conditions to proceed with accession negotiations by the German Bundestag last year.
The American Embassy was among the first institutions to react to the development praising it as very positive within the context of establishing the new institutions of the justice system.
Department of State HR report highlights corruption, impunity and shrinking media freedom
The report of the US State Department on Albania for 2019 points out prevailing problems in the country with corruption and impunity as well as curtailing media freedoms. High ranking politicians have managed to escape legal responsibility despite major accusations for corruption the report states. In addition the report takes a detailed look on the situation of the media pointing out not only the problematic drat law that was rejected by the EC but also the overall political and commercial pressure of major stakeholders that confines the freedom of the media and contributes to large scale self-censorship.
FA Minister Cakaj: Albania has fulfilled conditions for opening negotiations
Speaking in the Think Tank Forum 2020, Albanian Foreign Affairs Minister Gent Cakaj once again asked to the European Union member states to keep their end of the game and open the accession negotiations with Albania given that the later has fulfilled conditions. Cakaj, which made the same statements in a subsequent interview with EWB, mentioned the newly released report of the EC which praises the reforms as sufficient for opening the process of negotiations and said that the credibility of the EU is at stake.
SP members of Health Commission sue Sali Berisha for spreading panic
The MPs which are part of the Parliamentary Commission on Health have presented to the Attorney General their case for suing the former Prime Minister Berisha for allegedly spreading misinformation and panic through social media channels. The MPs claim they base their case on the Article 267 of the Penal Code. SP parliamentary group head Taulant Balla accused Berisha of being a “panic spreading machinery in times when the situation calls for following closely official instructions and absolutely avoiding panic.”
DP sues Minister of Healthcare for expired masks
After denouncing her in the media, the DP sued the healthcare minister Manastirliu for the case of the expired protective face masks. The DP had revealed previous that over 1.2 million masks with a real expiry date of 2011, hidden often behind sticker paper, have been distributed to healthcare centers around the country putting, in their assessment, to serious risk the health of the medical staff and their patients. Therefore the DP accuses the Minister of perpetuating a case of grave abuse of public office. This was heeded also by the SMI party which called upon the prosecutors’ office to investigate immediately on the case.
President Trump imposes ban on incoming European flights
President Donald Trump pronounced his immediate and total ban for all incoming flights from 26 EU member states for a period of 30 days. Flights from the UK and Ireland are still allowed for the present. The announcement which lacked detailed explanations caused a lot of confusion among Americans departing to European destinations as they became uncertain about return options. Later on it was clarified that the travel ban does not apply to US citizens and permanent residents. The European Union denounced the severely restrictive measure and expressed regret that it had not ben consulted previously with its institutions.
