Latest Update- News Portal Briefing
Times of Malta reports that tourist arrivals in January dropped by more than 90 per cent compared to the same month last year, before COVID-19 hit Europe.
MaltaToday reports that Air Malta will continue waiving the rebooking fee till the end of May.
Newsbook reports that Earlier today the jackup oil rig that was berthed for the past four years could be scene being tugged on its way to Croatia. The rig was undergoing maintenance works at the Palumbo Malta Shipyard.
TVM reports that Eurostat figures show that Malta had the second largest economic growth among all European Union countries during the last three months of 2020.
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Covid-19 update
The Health Department reported 248 new cases of coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. 390 people recovered from the virus. The number of active cases has reached 3,035. 4,470 swab tests were carried out in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 has reached 335. Malta reached second-highest GDP growth across EU in 2020
Malta records second highest economic growth, largest drop in employment
Malta recorded the second-highest GDP growth among EU states during the last quarter of 2020, according to Eurostat. Malta also recorded the largest drop in employment out of all EU member states, reaching a
drop in 0.5 per cent. Both Croatia and Greece registered a growth of 2.7 per cent. The strongest declines were
observed in Ireland (-5.1 per cent) and Austria (-2.7 per cent), followed by Italy (-1.9 per
cent) and France (-1.4 per cent). Across the EU, GDP registered a drop of 6.2 per cent. GDP fell by 6.6 per cent in the euro
area.
Updated 0830 – Newspaper Review
The Times reports that three men were called in for interrogation by the police as part of an investigation into money laundering involving former chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-managing director of Allied Newspapers Adrian Hillman. All three have since been released.
In-Nazzjon says that Opposition Leader Bernard Grech challenged Health Minister Chris Fearne to substantiate allegations that members of the PN parliamentary group have asked him to jump the queue for the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Independent quotes a spokesperson for the Health Ministry who said that a legal notice banning eating and drinking in public areas will be amended. Over the weekend several people were handed fines for temporarily removing their masks to eat while outdoors.
L-Orizzont says that authorities have issued nearly 800 fines for breaches of safety protocols in the past seven days. The police, tourism authority, and the health directorate conducted a combined 5,768 inspections in a week.
The Times says that Malta currently ranks sixth in the world for the number of new Covid-19 cases per capita registered in a week. The data is compiled and published by the US Centres for Disease Control.
The Independent reports on proposals by the European Commission to increase pay transparency. Large companies will be asked to publish information detailing gender-based pay gaps while employees will be entitled to seek compensation for pay discrimination.
In-Nazzjon says that the PN presented a set of proposals to overcome social challenges faced by women. Party leader Bernard Grech said that the plan of action proposes “concrete measures’ to achieve equality.
L-Orizzont quotes a statement by the General Workers Union calling for the removal of all abuse and barriers holding women back. The union noted social transformations throughout the years that have empowered women at work and in the community.
Morning Briefing
People to be allowed to eat, drink and smoke outside
Government has on Monday afternoon amended a legal notice in order to allow people to eat and drink in outsde spaces, as long as they are sitting down. This followed a wave of complaints that a number of people enjoying a picnic despite being in small groups maintaining social distancing. The temporary removal of face masks will not be permissible if a person is eating or smoking whilst walking. The same exception will be allowed for smoking.
Health authorities said that “Following the new COVID-19 measures announced last Thursday, where establishments can only serve food on a take-away basis, the legal notice is being adjusted to cater for the temporary removal of masks during the consumption of food or drinks in public places”. Authorities also reported that 789 fines were issued last week for lack of observance of the applicable legislation.
Payments take longer to settle – MACM
The Credit Management Association said that the pandemic crisis has led to an increase in the period and amount of payments being settled on time.
An association survey among over 120 members showed that, last year, Maltese businesses on average took some 80 days to settle their payments. This means that the period increased by just over three days, compared with the previous four years.
According to a European statistics, Maltese businesses take time to pay each other. While the European average is 60 days, in Malta businesses take an average of 80 days to pay pending money, which are technically known as DSO, Days Sales Outstanding.
Josef Busuttil from the Credit Management Association in Malta said that during last year, the period to settle pending payments increased by over three days (3.42), compared with the previous four years when there was a reduction in the period.
Educators reiterate call for online learnng
The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has once agan called for schools to move to onlinelearning because of the increase in Covid-19 cases and the circulation of the new UK variant, which has been seen to be more transmissible in children.
Graham Sansone, its CEO said: “We need to go online we are fed up with saying it time and time again. I am shocked by the number of Covid-19 cases and the number of educators catching the virus. We now have a regulation in the country where in one household there can be four different bubbles only, but the educator can have around 20 to 100 different bubbles in one class. In a kindergarten class you have around 20 different students from different bubbles.”
These calls were not reciprocated by the MUT which said that it was monitoring situation.
Covid-19 Update
201 new cases of coronavirus were reported on Monday, with 345 recoveries, lowering the active cases to 3,178. These cases were identified through just under 4,000 swab tests carried out on Sunday. No new fatalities were recorded. The total number of vaccination doses given has reached 97,864.
CDE News
