COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Bulletin – 12th June 2020 LOCAL NEWS
Update by Ministry of Health
For the second day running, Malta added five new coronavirus cases. These were identified from 1121 swab tests.
There were no recoveries, meaning active cases have now gone up to 36, a third of which in the past three days.
Health authorities said that one person had been admitted to ITU. In all, a total of 645 persons have been infected so far.
No earlier re-opening of Malta’s International Airport
Malta is expected to refuse pressure to re-open travel as from the beginning of July, even though the European Commission has made the case for an earlier easing of this restriction around the continent.
In an interview on Euronews, Ylva Johansson, the Home Affairs Commissioner pushed for an opening of the borders by next week, an argument she was expected to insist on during a videoconference of European interior ministers.
However, the Maltese Government seems determined to wait for another couple of weeks. Speaking to timesofmalta.com, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia confirmed that the date will not be changed.
“We were also part of these discussions and were in constant dialogue with the EU about travel restrictions and, together with the health authorities, have been observing how the situation has unfolded internationally. “At the end of the day we didn’t wait for the EU to tell us to close our ports, so when we made that decision there wasn’t that sort of input on a European level.”
Professionals once again ignored – MFPA
The Malta Federation of Professional Associations (MFPA) would like to show its dismay that once again professionals who are not listed in Annex A or B cannot avail themselves of any of the government schemes announced on Monday 8 June, despite the fact that they have incurred financial losses during the past three months.
Professionals, especially those that are self-employed and employers still have had to pay rents and water and electricity bills despite the fact that their practices were either entirely closed or were obliged to drastically reduce the services they provided with the provision of basic emergency cover to assist very urgent cases.
Self-employed health professionals were the worst hit in all issues addressed by the survey.
The MFPA called for the government to take into account these facts reported by professionals and address them while fine tuning the measures announced on Monday. The scope of the incentives should be widened to include affected professionals.
#MALTA-24: LOCAL NEWS
Timesofmalta.com
Nurses in Gozo have been ordered not to provide care or help with queries related to COVID-19 as from Monday, after their union registered an industrial dispute with Steward Health Care.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said on Friday that the healthcare operator was employing foreign nurses at the Gozo General Hospital, instead of transferring Gozitan nurses who are currently working in Malta.
Steward had broken a long-standing practice by ignoring an official list which allows Gozitan nurses to know when it is their turn to be transferred to Gozo, MUMN said.
Independent
Covid-19 wage supplement could continue beyond September – Economy Minister
The Covid-19 wage supplement could continue beyond September, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said. The government has announced that the wage supplement has been extended until September, although the amount is being tapered for some sectors that are recovering.
But Schembri said that the supplement has been extended to September only because the annual budget will be announced in the following month. “There were some who have already tried to sow doubts and had said that the supplement would stop in July. We extended by September because there will be the normal budget in October. By then, we will have enough time to analyse the situation and give more support if needed.”
Schembri said the decision to start lowering the amount for some sectors was not taken to save money. “This is a question of mentality. We do not want a situation where people find it easier to stay at home and do nothing while receiving the supplement. That is a frightful mentality and we do not want to go against the concept we introduced over the past seven years of making work pay.”
Maltatoday
Workers least to benefit from COVID-19 recovery package, UĦM boss laments
Workers were largely forgotten in the COVID-19 rescue package which the government announced earlier this week, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin CEO Josef Vella has said.
Vella, who was one of the guests on tonight’s Xtra along with representatives of Malta’s other major unions, insisted that he had no issue with the government helping businesses by slashing electricity tariffs, but questioned why such measures were not also expanded to include employees. “It wasn’t just the owners that suffered, so why shouldn’t we give them aid as well where electricity tariffs are concerned”, Vella argued, pointing out that many employees were given forced leave for every hour that that their place of employment was closed.
The union boss highlighted that workers were only getting 6% of the €900 million mini- budget, adding that these are merely “the crumbs that fell from the table”.
Printed
The Times reports on the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech who, in an audio recording by state witness Melvin Fenech, was heard saying he hoped former assistant police commissioner Silvio Valletta would keep his role.
In-Nazzjon follows the testimony in court of state witness Melvin Theuma who said that one of the suspected triggermen in the Caruana Galizia assassination had received money from PL deputy leader Chris Cardona.
The Independent publishes an interview with Economy Minister Silvio Schembri who responded to criticism that the economic regeneration plan does not address household needs by arguing that saving means jobs protecting families.
L-Orizzont speaks to university lecturer Simon Mercieca who warned against rising racism in Malta. Professor Andrew Azzopardi said there is a danger the prejudice and discrimination may become institutionalised.
The Times quotes Finance Minister Edward Scicluna who called a criminal investigation into funds used for social media spend by the Cabinet member ‘a farce’. The minister insisted that he never used public money on his personal Facebook account.
The Independent follows a press conference by Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli who revealed that talks with another five potential travel destinations to and from Malta are at an advanced stage.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN Leader Adrian Delia who said that the government is not providing the necessary information regarding the situation at Air Malta. Delia said that the opposition is not satisfied with the restructuring of the national airline.
L-Orizzont reports on a court decision ordering the compensation of €160,000 by a drugs dealer to the parents of a man who died from a heroin overdose in 1999. The victim was 21-years-old at the time.
Editorials
The Times of Malta describes Malta’s handling of irregular migration in the central Mediterranean over the last few weeks has been neither dignified nor successful, with Government resorting to what probably constituted to an illegal, yet expensive operation. The Editor insists that diplomacy, not hollow gestures of confrontation, are the better way forward, but also calls on EU countries to show the true meaning of solidarity. The long-standing issue of building a workable Common European Asylum System must go back on the EU’s agenda before another summer of tragedies kicks in.
The Independent dwells into the recent Government commitment to hand vouchers for the public to spend in restaurants and retail outlets, describing it as a habit of Labour Government to send cheques to families in a populist manner. In this context, it however welcomes the move, saying that this can help support the hard-hit restaurant industry but argues that their expiration date should have at least reached the Christmas festivities. It also holds PM Abela to his word that the financial assistance being provided now will not be subjected to increased taxation at a later stage.
GWU daily L-Orizzont takes the Nationalist Party to task for what it describes as a “bad decision” in a historic moment, referring to the Opposition’s refusal to participate in the grilling of the appointee for the post of Police Commissioner. The Editor notes that the new selection process was open and transparent, and with Parliamentary scrutiny improved Malta’s governance system.
In-Nazzjon highlights again what it considers as missing from Government’s economic regeneration plan. While it acknowledges the presence of a number of initiatives that support businesses which have been hard-hit during the pandemic, the Editor argues that Government is devoid of a plan for the future of the country. It notes that 10,000 jobs have been lost during this crisis, and yet so far there has been no tangible initiatives that seek the reaction of new job opportunities in the future.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TUI cancels beach holidays for UK customers until July 10
Travel company TUI said its UK operation was cancelling beach holidays for British tourists until July 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, extending the cancellation date by 10 days as UK travel restrictions persist.
TUI had previously cancelled holidays up until the end of June.
Like many airlines and holiday companies, TUI had hoped that a summer recovery would start in July, but Britain’s new 14-day quarantine rules for international arrivals, brought in on June 8, look set to deter people from travelling.
“With so much uncertainty around when travel will be able to recommence, customers due to travel before the end of August have the opportunity to amend their holiday for free,” TUI said in a statement on Thursday.
Britain has said work is continuing on “air bridges” between countries with low infection rates to allow quarantine-free travel, something which the industry says is vital to kick- start travel demand and avoid further job losses.
EU Corner – by Comuniq.EU
Non-euro EU Member States remain far off from reaching convergence criteria
The European Commission has published the 2020 convergence report in which it provides its assessment of the progress non-euro area Member States have made towards adopting the euro.
The report covers the seven non-euro area Member States that are legally committed to adopting the euro: Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
Convergence reports have to be issued every two years, independently of potentially ongoing euro-area accessions.
The report concludes that: Croatia and Sweden fulfil the price stability criterion. Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden fulfil the criterion on public finances. Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden fulfil the long-term interest rate criterion.
None of the Member States fulfils the exchange rate criterion, as none of them is a member of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II): at least two years of participation in the mechanism without severe tensions is required before joining the euro area.
While Croatia and Sweden fulfil all of the economic convergence criteria, they do not meet the exchange rate criterion for the above reason.
In addition to the assessment of the formal conditions for joining the euro area, the report finds that national legislation in each of the Member States, with the exception of Croatia, is not fully compatible with the rules of the Economic and Monetary Union.
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.
