LOCAL NEWS
Press Briefing by Health Superintendent Prof Charmaine Gauci
Two new cases were identified in the past 24 hours, while eight persons have recovered. This has reduced the number of active cases to 51. 622 persons have been infected. 562 patients have since recovered.
1,030 persons were tested during the same timeframe, meaning that more than 71,300 tests have now been carried out. These two cases were related to an imported case of a family returning from Pakistan via Frankfurt on a repatriation flight. One of the them is fourteen months old.
During today’s briefing, the last one of its sort, Prof Charmaine Gauci said the situation is very stable, attributing this result to the isolation of identified cases and the necessary contact tracing which kept the pandemic in check.
Two days before another round of easing of restrictions, the Health Superintendent appealed for people to respect the three key fundamental principles to ensure a safe return to normality. These were social distancing norms, hygiene and the wearing of masks or visor.
On vulnerable persons, Prof Gauci re-iterated that these persons remain at a higher risk if they contracted the virus. However, the transmission rate had gone down to below 0.5, thereby creating less risk to the community. Vulnerable persons can start going out again, while taking care of following mitigation measures for reducing risks. New legal guidelines in this regard will be published later today.
On sport, she explained that contact sports will be allowed in a future round of easing of restrictions.
She said that no persons who had attended the Floriana FC celebrations resulted positive.
On mass events, she said that gatherings of up to 75 persons have now been allowed.
New protocols for the operation of offices, business outlets and other establishments
Government has issued a number of protocols for the operation of the above.
Retail outlets will now be able to allow more persons in, at one person per four square metres as long as every person keeps a minimum of two metres from others. Similar protocols have also been imposed for offices. These stipulate that where possible, at least two metres need to be kept between people. There should be at least four square metres per staff member within the office. When this is not possible, acrylic or tempered glass screens are to be used and masks or visors must be worn at all times.
According to new regulations issued yesterday by health authorities, customers will be able to try out clothes before purchasing. Shops will be able to allow one person in per four square metres, or just one customer and one member of staff inside if the shop is smaller.
However, if any clothing is tried on, this is to be kept aside for 72 hours before another person can handle the clothing. The full list of regulations and protocols is available on Corporate Dispatch’s specifically dedicated page: https://corporatedispatch.com/covid- 19-info/
#MALTA-24: LOCAL NEWS
Timesofmalta.com
Parents homeschooling children should not be asked to return to work Friday
Parents currently homeschooling their children should not be expected to return to work before the start of SkolaSajf, the Maltese Association of Parents of State School Students (MAPSSS) said.
It was referring to the Prime Minister’s call on Monday that all workers were expected to return to work on Friday. The association said that in view of the fact that schools will remain closed until the end of the scholastic year, something it agreed with, the association called on the government to ensure that parents who were currently home- schooling their children, and had teleworking arrangements with their employers, continued to have the option to telework.
On the other hand, parents who could not telework, and who had to assist in the virtual learning of their children, should not be expected to return to work before the start of SkolaSajf on July 1.
The Independent
MIA to introduce social distancing tech; three years for industry to recover – CEO
As the Malta International Airport (MIA) prepares for its reopening, it will be introducing social distancing technology alongside a designated surveillance team while it will also be limiting its operations to direct fights only, MIA CEO Alan Borg said during this week’s session of Indepth.
He also said that it will take up to three years for the airline industry to completely recover from the Coronavirus setback.
Borg thinks that it will not be easy to ensure that people follow these regulations especially if they are coming from a Schengen destination wherein one does not have boarders to check into. “We are not sure what regulations the countries will be following since we are responsible for the airport not the relationship between countries,” he said, however, the airport is in touch with all of its airlines to evaluate which markets it will be able to have direct flights with.
He speculated that the industry will be facing a though three years as he believes that it will take this long for the industry to revert to how it was pre-Covid.
Printed
The Independent reports on a press conference addressed by the Prime Minister on Monday evening in which he announced that most restrictive measures will be lifted on Friday so people can return to work.
L-Orizzont says that the new normality announced by the Prime Minister will be guided on the principles of social distancing, wearing of face masks, and personal hygiene. Robert Abela thanked people for their discipline throughout the pandemic.
The Times quotes Health Minister Chris Fearne who said that Malta has “won the war” against Covid-19 as the virus reproductive rate went down to 0.5 and said that the country can now move on from the pandemic.
In-Nazzjon quotes Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci who said that the country will remain in a state of medical emergency even after the coronavirus restrictions are lifted on Friday.
The Independent follows the testimony in court of self-confessed middleman in the Caruana Galizia assassination plot, Melvin Theuma. He said that he saw former Assistant Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta at Yorgen Fenech’s ranch in Żebbuġ.
In-Nazzjon also reports on the testimony in court by Melvin Theuma on Monday, who was heard in a recording asking Yorgen Fenech about a mobile phone belonging to then Economy Minister Chris Cardona discovered on the Marsa seabed.
Editorials
The Times of Malta shares its views on the widely-debated proposal by the Prime Minister who suggested an amnesty for people fined in relation to Covid-19 social distancing transgressions, only to backtrack the following day on the measure. The Editorial argues that the restrictions protected medical staff and safeguarded the health infrastructure from the very real risk of being overrun by COVID-19. The very suggestion of an amnesty not only rubbishes these measures but ridicules the people behind them. The Editor insists that discipline is one thing this country desperately needs to beef up.
The Independent also takes the authorities to task on what it perceives as divergent positions on matters related to the relaxation of regulations. It wonders why people are allowed to gather together in restaurants, but not allowed to play football, as one example. The second, relates to the opening of a number of travel destinations, some of which require people coming from Malta to quarantine themselves for fourteen days. It also questions whether the celebratory statements that the war against coronavirus is over, hoping that Malta does not share the experience of other countries which had to re-introduce a number of measures after their relaxation.
Maltatoday also looks at the recent easing of restrictions but looks ahead to Summer, insisting that any expectations of a sudden return to normality would surely be misplaced. It calls for measures and initiatives to ensure that the summer months prove economically viable for operators before the onset of the influenza season: which, unhappily, also coincides with the start of the next scholastic year.
The Editor argues that next Monday’s emergency budget must therefore look out for big business as well as for the smaller ones, who are now already coming to terms with operating on reduced hours, with reduced staff at reduced income.
L–Orizzont makes the argument that with a quasi-normality being achieved, the next step is to achieve trust. It also delves on the amnesty saga, expressing agreement that genuine cases should be considered. It recalls that the virus is still out there, and urges people to follow the recommendations of health authorities to the letter.
In-Nazzjon is the only daily to shift its attention from the current situation related to coronavirus, and focuses its Editorial on what is describes as a culture of impunity, with the Editor noting the irony that a young female officer was ‘investigated’ for sharing a short online video while major politicians and power-brokers remain scot free despite damning allegations on their head. It also calls for justice with regards to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EasyJet plans to be flying three-quarters of routes by August
British airline EasyJet said it will resume flying on about three-quarters of its routes by August, expanding the small number it said it would start flying this month but at a much lower frequency than last summer.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the air travel market to collapse and forecasts say it will remain smaller for years.
Last week EasyJet, whose 337 planes have all been grounded since March, said it would cut staff and aircraft numbers to survive.
It plans to restart flying mainly domestic flights in Britain and France from 15 June, but as restrictions ease it said it would add more destinations, flying 50% of its 1,022 routes in July, and 75% in August.
Capacity, however will be lower, it said, at about 30% of usual in the busy July to September summer holiday season, making the airline more cautious than bigger competitor Ryanair which has said it will be flying 40% of capacity by July.
Airlines and travel companies in Britain have said that government plans for a 14-day quarantine for arrivals into the country from June 8 will hamper any travel recovery, but media reports suggest so-called air bridges between lower risk countries could replace quarantine from the end of June.
EU Corner – by Comuniq.EU
Combat 5G COVID-19 fake news, urges EU
European Union (EU) nations banking on 5G to boost economic growth are eager to tackle conspiracy theories linking the wireless technology to the spread of the novel coronavirus that have seen masts torched in several places.
According to telecoms lobbying groups ETNO and GSMA, such false claims have resulted in over 140 arson attacks on infrastructure such as mobile phone masts in 10 European countries and assaults on scores of maintenance workers.
Britain has seen 87 arson attacks and the Netherlands 30, while cases have also been reported in France, Belgium, Italy and Germany.
According to an EU document seen by Reuters, member countries emphasized their concern at a video conference between themselves to discuss digital issues last Friday.
The Council of EU ministers “expresses the importance of fighting against the spread of misinformation related to 5G networks, with special regard to false claims that such networks constitute a health threat or are linked to COVID-19”, it said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has debunked the claims, saying that viruses cannot travel on radio waves or mobile networks, and that COVID-19 has also spread to countries without 5G mobile networks.
More News:
For a Fact-Checked Aggregated Service of CoVid-19 related information, please visit: https://corporatedispatch.com/category/coronavirus/
Additional info
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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.
