LOCAL NEWS
Press Conference by Health Superintendent (5th April 1330 hrs)
656 swabs were taken yesterday, resulting in 14 new cases, for a total of 227 cases. The new patients are in good condition. Seven persons are in Mater Dei, three of them in ITU. Eight patients are being treated at Boffa Hospital and one at Mount Carmel.
Eleven of the new cases concern men, including an 86-year old. All cases were locally transmitted.
Prof Gauci repeated her appeal for people to stay indoors and reduce contact with people not in the same household.
Situation under control – PM Robert Abela
In the traditional Sunday address on Labour’s television station, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the coronavirus pandemic in Malta is under control thanks to the measures taken by Government and the fact that people where respecting them. Abela said that while neighbouring countries were witnessing troublesome spike in numbers, cases in Malta were largely limited. This was also a result of the significant number of daily tests being undertaken, which are approaching 800 a day.
Insisting that Malta was not under complete lockdown, PM Abela recommended that people, with the exception of the over 65s and those with conditions placing them in a vulnerable situation, should go for a walk or a run, on their own or in pairs, in order to take care of their physical and healthy wellbeing.
On his part, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia increased his dose of criticism regarding the hospitals’ concession arguing that without the monies being forked out by Government to finance such agreement, the aid package could have been afforded to all workers rather than to a limited number of sectors.The Nationalist Leader also insisted that government should be more proactive in sharing information with the business community, which so far, he described as lacking.
Chamber of Commerce calls for highest ethical standards in market pricing
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry in a statement issued yesterday made reference to the claims made by the Minister for the Economy the Hon Silvio Schembri about alleged cases of price abuse.
The Malta Chamber clarified that it does not have any legal jurisdiction on pricing as it is not a Government Authority and has no regulatory role of any kind. It is out of a sense of social responsibility, that the Malta Chamber has been vociferous in encouraging businesses to be ethical in this regard.
The Malta Chamber, noted that perhaps going against what most would have expected of it, was the very first to raise the issue of price-abuse on the 10th March when it issued a media statement calling on all businesses to “practice the highest ethical standards, when it comes to market pricing, especially on necessary items, at this time.”
In its press release, in March, the Chamber had encouraged operators in the supply chain to act responsibly.
Change in birth registrations as from tomorrow
As from tomorrow 6th April, the way in which notifications of birth registrations is carried out will change. Registration needs to be carried out through localnotifications.pubreg@gov.mt. After registration, Identity Malta officials will guide the parents so that they, amongst other steps, send documents by registered post to the Office of Public Registry.
The documents required are
- a filled-in formula for Birth Notification;
- birth certificate obtained from hospital which is signed by the midwife;
- a copy of the Identiy Cards of the parents;
- other documents as required by Public Registry;
- a copy of the €2.60 payment to Identity
The Birth Act is then sent by registered post to the parents so that they may confirm that the details listed are correct. As soon as the parents sign the Act, this is then sent back to Public Registry. Finally, parents will be notified that registration is complete, and the Birth Certificate can be ordered from www.certifikati.gov.mt
Cleansing division in 24-hour operation
The Department of Information said that some one hundred employees of the Cleansing and Maintenance Division have altered operations so that they are now offering their services in various localities in Malta on a 24-hour basis throughout the week.
Work carried out involves cleansing by means of water and disinfectant shot out of high pressure pumps. Bus shelters, street furniture, infront of pharmacies, grocery stores, ATMs, and places normally frequented by the public are being cleansed regularly. Particular attention is being given to the streets leading to the swab centres.
Four more persons fined
Four more persons were each fined €100 during the rounds conducted by Police yesterday to ensure that no gatherings in public places involving more than 3 persons take place in line with the legal notice issued by Government.
Moreover, for the second day in a row, no one was caught breaching obligatory quarantine during any of the 218 inspections. The appeal remains for everyone to be responsible and cooperate with the directives issued by the authorities.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Timesofmalta.com
Less than a quarter of Maltese fear coronavirus job losses – survey
Less than one in four workers is worried about losing their job because of the COVID-19 crisis, and the overwhelming majority feel the government is dealing very well with the health and economic fallout of the pandemic.
A total of 89% say they are happy with the health authorities’ response while 69% gave their approval to the economic fightback, a Times of Malta survey showed.
Carried out by advisory firm EMCS Ltd between Tuesday and Thursday, the survey showed many have not yet felt the economic pinch and there is still considerable confidence that the COVID-19 crisis will not put their jobs at risk.
Maltatoday
Pilots won’t discuss cuts without say on Air Malta restructuring
Air Malta pilots have refused to consider a radical and drastic cut of their monthly salaries to just €1,200, with union spokesperson Dominic Azzopardi complaining about management not having taken any cut in their salaries.
“We are already suffering a 30% cut,” Azzopardi said, referring to the fact that pilots are not being paid their performance-based portion of their salaries, which depend on the amount of hours they fly.
Air Malta has been attempting to convince workers to take suitable pay cuts due to the lack of revenue the national airline will suffer in the coronavirus pandemic, that has shut down the tourism industry.
But the ALPA spokesperson said the union will only sit down to consider a salary cut if they see management taking similar wage cuts, and if they are invited to discuss further restructuring of the airline.
Newsbook
Post COVID-19 businesses will change how they operate – Malta Chamber
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has launched a thematic group aimed at creating various scenarios of how the post-pandemic landscape will look and develop strategic initiatives which will need to be undertaken in the short, medium and long terms, said in a statement the Malta Chamber.
The group is led by Mr Joshua Zammit and draws on the experience and expertise of leading CEOs, entrepreneurs and academics.
“It is most clear that the Maltese and indeed the Global Economy which will emerge post the pandemic will look, feel and operate differently from we have assumed until today,” said David Xuereb, President of the Malta Chamber.
Printed
Malta Today reveals that the Air Malta pilots’ union shot down offers to cut salaries to
€1,200 every month. The union said that it is not prepared to discuss pay cuts unless it participates in talks about the restructuring of the national carrier.
The Sunday Times publishes survey results showing an 89 percent approval rate of the handling of the Covis-19 situation by the health authorities. Just under 70 percent agree with the government’s economic response.
The Independent on Sunday quotes Economy Minister Silvio Schembri who said that the EU gave its approval to allow Malta to support the national airline directly, after relaxing state aid rules. Air Malta’s top management have already accepted pay cuts.
Kullħadd says that Malta’s rescue package for business is the third-biggest in the EU in proportion to national GDP. The paper says that the European Commission accepted the government’s proposal for loan guarantees to companies. Kullħadd follows the latest developments on the Covid-19 spread and says that a two-year-old girl is among the cases confirmed on Friday. Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said that more than 9,700 tests have been conducted so far.
It-Torċa carries an interview with Professor Carmel Borg from the Education Faculty at the University of Malta. He says that the pandemic “has no social soul” and attacks the vulnerable most violently. It-Torċa says that Malta launched one of the most robust economic packages to fight back the effects of the Covid-19 challenges. The paper says that, while international institutions normally call for caution, in this scenario they are urging governments to spend.
The Sunday Times speaks to narcotics expert Godwin Sammut who said that the virus spread has hit the trafficking of drugs and the quality of the substances. He warned that this could lead to greater dilution in drugs.
Malta Today reports that the National Development Fund administered by the citizenship investment scheme registered a loss of €2.45 million following a dip in the economic performance of assets managed by the Central Bank.
Il-Mument reports that 11 new infected people have been discovered by Saturday, bringing the number of cases to 2013. Meanwhile a state of health emergency has been declared with public authorities insisting that people stay indoors.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Global cases are now over 1.2 million
Global cases of the coronavirus have now passed 1.2 million.
China saw a slight rise in cases despite tough restrictions and a ban on foreign arrivals. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Thailand reported new cases as Asian nations that had early to stem the virus see a second wave of infections as people return from abroad.
In Europe, Italy passed 15,000 deaths, while Spain overtook Italy in terms of cases, recording a total of more than 126,000, to become the second-worst affected. The US has by far the most cases, with more than 311,000.
Globally, the death toll is approaching 65,000.
Coronavirus cases in Libya increase
Libya has registered six new Coronavirus cases, bringing the number to 17 in total, according to the Libyan National Center for Disease Control.
The six cases came after the center had tested 20 new samples, 14 of which tested negative for COVID-19.
Libya recorded late on Thursday the first death case of Coronavirus for an Algerian 85- year-old woman who is married to a Libyan national and living in Tripoli.
Cyber criminals threaten to hold hospitals to ransom – Interpol
As hospitals around the world struggle to handle the influx of COVID-19 patients, cyber criminals are threatening to exploit the crisis and hold them to ransom, according to an Interpol warning.
The agency has issued a global alert to healthcare organisations about ransomware attacks, in which criminals lock organisations out of their own computer systems until a ransom is paid.It follows a rare warning from one of the UK’s intelligence agencies about criminals using the coronavirus outbreak to launch online attacks.
EU Corner
European Commission approves waiving of customs duties and VAT on medical devices and equipment
The European Commission approved requests from Member States and the UK to temporarily waive customs duties and VAT on the import of medical devices, and protective equipment, from third countries in order to help in the fight against coronavirus.
This will make it easier financially to get the medical equipment that doctors, nurses and patients desperately need.
The Commission has swiftly approved requests received from all Member States.
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For a Fact-Checked Aggregated Service of CoVid-19 related information, please visit: https://corporatedispatch.com/category/coronavirus/
Additional info
Helplines
111 – For those who feel symptoms of COVID-19 or who wish further information
21411 411 – For those in mandatory quarantine who require provisions of food and medicine
1772 – For those who are feeling lonely.
153 – For those who require information about the financial measures administered by the Department for Social Security.
144 – For those who require information about the financial measures administered by Malta Enterprise.
2204 2200 – For Maltese residents who were caught in one of the high-risk countries and wish to return to Malta
25981000 – For those who have questions about the educational sector and the impact of the coronavirus
21692447– For hoteliers and tourists who have questions about the announced measures.
5903030 – For elderly persons bereft of support who need medicines, ready-made meals or food products (fruit and vegetables).
25469111 – For those who work in the gaming industry.
This daily update bulletin is being compiled for the Chamber of Advocates by CI Consulta from Corporate ID Group. CI Consulta delivers policy research and analysis, evaluations and impact assessments up to policy implementation and integration.
