Updated 1805: 13th Covid-19 death
The Health Ministray announced that an 89-year-old man has become Malta’s 13th COVID-19 victim.
The man was released from hospital this week after being treated for a week for various health conditions. He tested negative to COVID-19 when swabbed upon admission but was nevertheless kept in isolation because he had come in contact with a positive person while in the community.
Later today he was re-admitted after his situation deteriorating before passing away in hospital.
Updated 1645: News Portal Review
TVM says 26 new Covid-19 cases were registered in Malta in the past 24 hours following 1,916 swab tests. 444 other cases are still active from a total of 1,909 confirmed cases in Malta since the emergence of the pandemic.
MaltaToday reports a few thousands of parents congregating on a Facebook group are insisting on their right to keep their children home when schools re-open. They are calling for online schooling to be retained as an option when schools reopen in September, as fears over the recent spike in COVID-19 grow.
Times of Malta says murder suspect Yorgen Fenech was denied bail once more on Tuesday, with a court turning down his application following one day of deliberation.
The Malta Independent reports that the middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder underwent a heart procedure at Mater Dei Hospital. Melvin Theuma is recovering in hospital, after having been admitted on Saturday.
Newsbook says a group of NGOs is requesting a full-scale investigation into the practices that have led to a PA employee being appointed head of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.
NET News reports that over the first eight months of this year, Malta Customs intercepted, with the help of equipment at the Freeport, 49 containers measuring 40 feet carrying counterfeit products. The market value of these products would have reached €17.3 million.
ONE News says a newly launched scheme by Dr. Lydia Abela and the Minister for Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes, Sens-Ability, which for the first time will be providing financial aid amounting to six thousand euro (€6,000) for parents of children and adults with autism or difficulty in processing sensory information, will be able to do this from their own home, known as a sensory room.
Updated 1232: Covid-19 update
26 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Malta in the past 24 hours, while 53 persons have recovered. This brings the number of active cases down to 444. The Health Department also said that from yesterday’s cases, seven were related to existing clusters while 14 were sporadic ones.
Updated 1010: Government confirmed in a statement that the 12th victim of Covid-19 had contracted the virus from hospital. It said that when originally admitted to hospital, a first swab resulted negative, but a second test on the following day showed that the person had contracted the virus.
Updated 0911 – Newspaper Review
The Times says that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was questioned under caution when he was summoned to the police headquarters last week. Speaking after the 90-minute questioning, Muscat had told the press that he was not under investigation.
The Independent quotes inspector Kurt Zahra’s testimony in court on Monday where he confirmed that Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, and Joseph Muscat had a WhatsApp chat group between them.
In-Nazzjon reports on the compilation of evidence in the Caruana Galizia case where it emerged that Yorgen Fenech had informed the police that Joseph Muscat was one of the three people who knew about the murder soon after it was carried out.
L-Orizzont reports that Daniel Muka, believed to be the mastermind behind the Sliema double murder, appeared in court on Monday. The compilation of evidence against the suspect will begin on Thursday.
The Independent speaks to the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Accommodation, Roderick Galdes, who said that there are currently 2,602 people on the waiting list for government housing.
The Times quotes a statement by the family of the Covid-19 patient who died over the weekend. It contradicts official reports that the man had been infected before being admitted to hospital but contracted the disease when he was about to be discharged.
L-Orizzont carries an interview with General Workers Union secretary general Josef Bugeja who said that a new economy needs new working conditions that protect workers’ rights, including those working in the gig economy.
In-Nazzjon says that most of the 53 new coronavirus cases registered on Monday are sporadic infections and 32 of the patients are immigrants. There were 87 recoveries, bringing the number of active cases down to 564.
L-Orizzont says that activists and NGO are calling on European countries to allow immigrants to enter their borders. A group of migrants have been aboard the rescue ship Sea Watch for 10 days, another group for three weeks.
Covid-19 in Malta
The number of active cases in Malta has gone down to 471 in the latest bulletin published by health authorities, after 87 new recoveries were reported on Sunday. With 21 new cases identified through over 2,000 swabs, the number of active cases now stands at 471.
The Health Department also said that 32 additional migrants were identified as Covid-positive. It also said that of yesterday’s 15 new cases, the authorities had managed to link 12 of them to already existing clusters.
Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the press, the family of Malta’s latest coronavirus victim insisted that the elderly man had not tested positive for the virus when first admitted to hospital. They insisted that the man, who was 85, not 86 as stated by the authorities, contracted the virus in hospital.
Muscat interrogated ‘under caution’
During a hearing in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, accused of masterminding Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, Inspector Kurt Zahra said that ex-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was questioned by investigators under caution.
Muscat was called in at Police HQ on 24th August for a 90-minute interrogation, for which Inspector Kurt Zahra confirmed that the former PM was warned that that anything he said could be used against him in court and that he had the right to remain silent if he feared incriminating himself.
Commenting on Facebook yesterday evening, Muscat said that “I asked on the record whether I was being investigated in this case. Police confirmed on the record that I was not”. He insisted that all questions put to him were replied to.
In a separate part of the proceedings yesterday, the existence of a group chat between Yorgen Fenech, former Prime Minister Joesph Muscat and his former chief of staff Keith Schembri was confirmed, with Fenech insisting that he and Schembri were like brothers.
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