Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at meeting with network of inspectors employed to enforce compliance with the anti-COVID measures:

The today’s meeting is an additional effort to do whatever we can to achieve a goal with two objectives.

The first objective; To stem further escalation and spread of the infection beyond a reasonable rate and a reasonable rate can only be set by us the humans, in order to protect the most vulnerable ones and avoid an overloaded health system that could objectively make impossible for the health system to provide daily care to many citizens who may contract COVID-19.

Second objective, not less important, for the sake of truth; that is avoiding at any costs another total lockdown, a terrifying prospect for entire world. From the President of France, one of the world’s greatest economic powers, who told his people openly that France wouldn’t afford a second national lockdown, to the German Chancellor who textually told her nation “life as we know it will return, but now we have to be reasonable and be patient more than ever so that the long months of sacrifices after the pandemic outbreak are not overturned in just a matter of short time.”

To this end, we have decided to set up this network of inspectorates that operate to protect the peoples’ health on normal days, operate for the life safety from workplace to environment, food, medicines and health and they will be deployed everywhere according to the map already made available and that is updated every week. They will be deployed to the streets not to impose fines, because this is the police’s duty, but to raise awareness, communicate, but also to call the police to do their job. They will be deployed to streets, crossroads together with the police officers to carry out their daily duty and see the citizens’ conduct through the eyes of this network and the eyes of the state.

The mask wearing policy has changed in its dynamic as it is the case with many other things also at the highest levels of the international expertise in the approach against this invisible enemy. We are certainly not an exception to this, quite the contrary. We have simply tried to be good, attentive pupils and obedient to the world’s best and most authoritative voices. I would like to reiterate it today, we haven’t been so fortunate – and by us I mean myself, the Health Minister, the cabinet who have had a team of best international-level experts at our disposal. And by listening and learning, we have been adapted just like everyone else has adapted.

As of today, the obligatory mask use keeps triggering disputes and debates all over Europe and America. Thanks also to hunting, the global sport of sensations and news reports through infinite number of information channels also on top of the world, where science is at its peak, right where the economy is at its peak, and from where the world is ruled, you would often find controversial and even ridiculous headlines. You would find contradictory approaches, like it is the case in France, where you face a fine when sitting in a cafe and no penalty is imposed when you take away a coffee from the restaurant situated just on the opposite side. Or just like it is the case in Italy, where few days ago a couple made the headlines as they were kissing after removing the face masks in a park where nobody was to be found in a perimeter of 1000 meters around them and they were fined just because they didn’t have the same residence address. Or the case featuring the mayor of an Italian city, who imposes fines for wearing a mask in places rather than stipulated by law, arguing that masks can be worn by criminals and terrorists. So, we can come across a lot of strange situations around the world.

All these weird situations actually represent the framework of a consolidated view, the mandatory use of the face masks worldwide, everywhere, as an additional effort at this stage of the second offensive of the invisible enemy. It is an offensive obviously much more aggressive offensive than the first one taking also advantage of the fact that the lockdown measures have been removed and the fact that we don’t want to reintroduce the lockdown again.

We don’t want to tell people, who go to work to provide for their families and our joint home, to stay at home.

We don’t want to tell those who move and movement is inseparable part of the source of their income not to move again.

We don’t want to shut down schools.

We don’t want to tell students to stay at home.

We don’t want to tell parents of the little children that kindergartens are closed.

But how can we possibly combine these two, both the desire and the indispensability not to reintroduce a second lockdown with the indispensability so that we don’t suffocate under the pressure of infection and such suffocation may take place in a few weeks’ time, should we go on as if nothing has happened, in case Albanians want to party together with COVID. Or worse, they want to lead a watchful life with their eyes opened to see only what they wish to see and listen to music and not the voice of reason, and the music stops they want to hear some completely insane delinquents and irresponsible individuals talking about the world conspiracy, with Bill Gates seeking to implant microchips into the bodies of those who stay in the cafe all the time and are completely useless to their families, let alone Bill Gates.

There is no other option than the direct contribution of anyone, who is not being asked to take up arms and go to the mountains to defend the homeland from an invader, is not being asked to give his life or be wounded, but is being it is simply asked not to leave the house without wearing a mask, maintain distance and not to provoke this invisible enemy that like it or not it not only exists, but if it finds you weak, it can kill you.

Vjollca is one of the many witnesses. We know very well, because we have followed the progress of her battle against the virus and the danger she was in. I know very well what it felt like when doctors said “we do not know as anything can happen” and it can happen in the blink of an eye. Therefore, in order for the situation not to go that far, even though everyone may contract the virus, but not by ignoring and provoking the virus, we have to do utmost efforts to reduce the number of infections.

Rigorous and severe restriction measures are being consistently imposed in the planet’s most democratic countries, while some delinquents claim that dictatorship is being restored in our country. There are even certain individuals who sarcastically write from Germany slogans like “Long Live the Labour Party,” “long live the party ideals,” even though the live in Germany and see for themselves what is going on there, even though the live right at the heart of the Great Britain and the United States of America and see for themselves what really happens there.

But such individuals are twice as much as dangerous to themselves and their families; they pose a threat to others too. How could you possibly hold these people back without resorting to enforcement of the law and the rule, given that they are unwilling to comply?

And it is not only them. Because every people has its delinquents and ignorant and every state has its own problems. Otherwise, it would have been needless for Germany, France, Great Britain or America to impose rules and the law. Instead, they would have said, “ok, things will be done this way and everyone should comply with.” But this is not the way how things work.

On the other hand, an editorial on the New York Times likened the use of mask with the taxpaying. You pay taxes, not because this is what you want to do, but because you are obliged to do so. If you don’t feel that paying taxes is obligatory, then you will be forced to pay them according to the law. The editorial noted that the number of those willing to pay taxes is very small, because they are convinced that this is their contribution to the society and the state, and it is the society and the state that have invested in you in one way or another. If they were not to invest in you, then you would have been still living in a forest. They have been investing for generations and keep doing on daily basis. The rest pay taxes out of fear or because everyone does, the New York Times wrote.

So, in the case of the mask, this should not be made compulsorily out of fear.

Trust me, I personally put on this anytime I leave house or office and I don’t feel happy at all. On the contrary, I feel exasperated. I don’t wear it because I am afraid that a police patrol will stop me, but I do so because it is a basic, elementary, essential, human and civic obligation not to become a reason for others to contract the infection, but also to contribute so that everyone does the right thing.

The state is not another party. The government is not another party. We today hold office and I have to talk about it.  I remember that president of America who said “I would have given everything away not to be here and not to talk about and deal with this today.”

But the office brings all the responsibilities and all the challenges with it.

We and the entire world face an enigma today; what will happen when a usual enemy in the fall and winter, or the seasonal flu, combines with this new enemy?

It doesn’t take a lot of know-how in health and medicine issues to know that flu weakens your body and immunity. And a weakened body with a low immunity because of the seasonal influenza is really endangered when this other enemy enters your body and wreaks havoc.

Me poshte vijon pjesa e dyte e fjales se KM Rama me inspektoret e angazhuar per masat anti-covid:

The German Chancellor called on German citizens a day ago to avoid gatherings, celebration and family events and restaurants if not necessary. What is the reason of this appeal? It is even because of this reason. The chances that you and others will be exposed and get sick are higher when you have contracted the virus and when you sit in an indoor restaurant with air conditioning, amid the seasonal flu and without a mask that you cannot wear while dining in a restaurant.

We have been imposing fines since day one. We have imposed fines on individuals refusing to wear a face mask, while the President of the Republic – I apologize since he shouldn’t have been a topic of such communication – issues statements describing the mandatory use of the face masks as a violation of the human rights and freedoms. Because for him – and he can be anyone but the President of the Republic – nothing else matters, but how to incite hatred and make his own people despair, so that when the elections come he can win and gain whatever he can for his bankrupted and degraded enterprise.

But this is not a game.

Just imagine as if the Queen of the United Kingdom appears on TV to state that the fine for breaking the mask use, which is the highest in the United Kingdom, is a violation of the human freedoms and rights. Imagine the President of France, the German Chancellor, or the President of Germany, and the President of Italy doing the same thing. New York City has imposed $15.000 fines for violating the mandatory mask use rule. One can remove the mask only when running and if caught by police while walking instead of running, he or she faces a $15.000 fine. European countries impose fines up to EUR 1.000 for not wearing a face mask in public, with extreme cases, like the one I told earlier involving a couple kissing in a public park and facing a hefty fine just because they didn’t share same home address. The anti-Covid measures in these countries are used as a repressive disciplining tool, because this is a war.

Like it or not, this is a war. It was not us to choose fighting this war, but it is the invisible enemy that has chosen us.

How could you possibly describe it as blackmail against the human rights and freedoms?

How could you possibly contradict the rules as if living in a forest?

While in Albania fines up to 3 000 lek are imposed and this penalty is applied to raise awareness rather than as a repressive disciplining tool. At the end of the day, this is worth using too and every means needs to be used.

A total of 2800 fines have been imposed in the past five days, but thousands of other penalties have been avoided, because people are heeding the mask use rule fearing penalties. Some even acknowledge they don’t believe COVID-19 exists, but they fear and are worried over being fined.

What can we do for people to really believe that the virus exists?

What else could you possibly want to believe that COVID exists, even though you see that whole world is alarmed?

It may happen that one, two or three people go insane, but it is impossible that the entire world go crazy at the same time. It is impossible that the world’s biggest democracies go crazy, because all the controlling powers are functional and which would not allow anyone to lead the people by the nose and lead them to conspiracy theories. These are unprecedented and unparalleled nonsense, which are certainly stimulated and spread by the media that is in a race to earn as many clicks, likes and shares without taking care about their audience, the people working for them and their families.

In which war the information sources can cause so much confusion among people just it is the case here?

It is immoral, indecent and unethical, but this is actually not happening only here. This is happening everywhere and we have no other choice but live with it.

Your network is not a network tasked with imposing fines. I repeat, none of us has seen this war as one where the state and the government turn to the citizens and put them under the penalty pressure, but we see it as a common war where we and every citizen has an individual duty and where everyone should do their part. And in this respect we have been very careful that all inspectorates, including the taxation inspectorates, do not trouble people in this difficult phase, when they opened shops and businesses after a lockdown that triggered consequences, but, on the contrary, we have scrapped small business tax and VAT. That’s half the job. The other half is the one that is not directly obvious when you say we have removed the tax and that businesses are no longer subject to inspection actions.

You are all equipped with these vests and you are all the guardian angels of the people. You are neither police officers nor civil guards, but the guardian angels of the people. The chief inspector should take over this process, always being in close cooperation with the Minister and the relevant authorities to receive daily instructions and act in compliance with the action map, where more actions are needed. You are there to raise awareness and if certain individuals do not obey and violate the mask use rule, you should call the police. You are not equipped with ticket to impose penalties. You are equipped with the communication device only and this is all. You just have to report any violations. You are not a kind of an extra stress for the people, but an additional relief and alliance with the people in our joint effort to win this damn war and make sure that the line of fire is in full control of doctors and nurses.

There are people who claim that the health system has collapsed as its capacities have been exhausted and hospitals are out of beds for patients. What is this all about?

These are all unacceptable moral scandals, because we are today absolutely prepared for the worst, and we are seeking to keep the worst at bay. We face no hospital capacity problems today. The two COVID-dedicated hospitals are currently using only one fourth of their capacity, yet the recent soar in fresh coronavirus cases shows that hospitals can reach their maximum capacities soon. If we all fail to do our part, the hospitals can fill their capacities even faster and this is the key we should firmly hold on our hands so that the invisible enemy doesn’t take it away from us and make the situation goes out of control. In such a scenario, we would be forced to treat only the COVID-19 patients and forget other patients with other pathologies.

Two more hospitals and a whole team of doctors and nurses are available and ready to open if necessary and they will whenever necessary. Even if the two current COVID hospitals will have exhausted capacities – I hope they don’t – there are other facilities prepared to take over.

As we speak, some 60 additional mechanical ventilators are being installed. We haven’t faced shortages of oxygen for the patients. On the contrary, the use of oxygen for patients is currently at a minimum level compared to our readiness and supplies and fortunately there has been no need for more oxygen.

There is no anti-COVID drug that is being used in America, France, Germany and elsewhere and that is not available here. We have followed and follow them in real time and act in real time on anything new that comes up. Even when the special plasma treatment started to be applied in Italy, we immediately brought the Italian doctors here.

God spared Albania as COVID-19 didn’t spread when the previous government was in office and God knows what would have happened given the state of the hospitals and health care system back then.

Concluding, I would like to reiterate that we are not the only ones and we are not alone in this war. We are simply and only one of the links in a very long chain of all nations.

The life as we know it will return – the Chancellor says – but this is the moment when we as individuals and as a society should take more care of each other, especially to take care of our relatives with underlying health issues  or elderly people. This is the moment when we should again show more patience, because just imagine what I don’t want to imagine even for a single second, if we reintroduce a second lockdown, ordering people not to leave their homes. Just imagine if people will be allowed to leave their homes for one hour only.

I wish you to do this work with dedication. It is not a normal daily job, but a humanitarian mission of all of you, led by the Minister, the Chief Inspector, to do our best to contain the spread of the virus. The virus will not leave and we have repeatedly stated this. It will take its time. The vaccine has yet to become available and it will also take time even once available.

What we can actually do is make efforts to slow down the spread of the virus and not do what people did back in 1918, when they gained freedom after the first wave of the pandemic and 80% of 50 million victims died during the second wave. A third wave ensued, but people had learned their lesson and everyone obeyed to the rules. Let’s not do it!

We do not need to experience a catastrophe that we can either curb or further spread with our own hands.

Thank you!