Midday Briefing
Wage Supplement to be Extended beyond January for certain sectors – PM
Prime Minister Robert Abela announced on Sunday that the wage supplement for businesses will be extended beyond January in certain sectors, but warned about the dangers of business becoming dependent on it, The Times reports.
Abela said without the government’s aggressive economic support package, 50,000 private sector jobs would have been lost as a result of the pandemic. He acknowledged the traditionally slow shoulder months for the tourism sector had been more difficult than usual this year, and said it would make little sense to withdraw support to these businesses at such a crucial point. “We can afford to keep helping business, we have the financial means,” Abela said. The prime minister said the government, however, wanted to avoid businesses becoming dependent on the wage supplement. Times of Malta
Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech criticised Prime Minister Robert Abela for what he described as an inability – if not unwillingness – to take the necessary decisions in the face of crises Malta faced such as its grey-listing and a lack of good governance. Grech was being interviewed on his party’s media on Sunday morning, a day after his party presented 12 draft laws with the stated aim of fighting corruption and organised crime.
Grech dismissed Abela’s claims that he was engaged in consultation, noting that it was now clear to all that the PM wasn’t one for consulting. And he insisted that a government, with its civil service, “hundreds” of people of trust and the funds to hire experts wherever necessary could have easily come up with recommendations. Instead, the PN leader said, it was his party that ended up identifying Malta’s problems and proposing solutions through the proposals presented on Saturday, and it was now time for the PM to walk the talk. “It is time for Robert Abela to choose whether to face reality or continue to avoid taking decisions,” he maintained. – Newsbook
Covid-19 Update
A 63-year-old male is Malta’s latest person who died of Covid-19.
The latest data released from the Health Ministry show that over the past 24 hours, there were 563 new Coronavirus cases reported in Malta. The latest bulletin also announced that 1018 recovered.
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in Malta now is 14,159.
26-year-old Indian man hospitalised following traffic accident
A 26-year-old Indian man has been hospitalised after getting involved in a Zejtun traffic accident on Saturday. The police said the accident happened in Triq Toni Zahra, Zejtun at around 8pm. Malta Today
Adoptions
The Directorate for Alternative Care currently has over 70 couples waiting to close the process to adopt children from Malta or abroad. During last year, the Directorate had nine matches for couples or individuals to adopt children. This means that some of these nine children were adopted, while others are concluding the process to be given to adopted families. There are five cases waiting a Court’s decision. – TVM
Morning Briefing
Nurses seek urgent meeting to discuss different quarantine days
The MUMN said that it was seeking a meeting with the Health Minister related to “the problems which employees are going to face regarding the different quarantine days issued to persons (and their children) according to their boosters. The Union was referring to the fact that parents who had the third dose would be put ten days in quarantine if their children are positive, but the latter would be still required to spend 14 days, if not yet vaccinated. The MUMN lamented that there is also a whole lot of confusing theories on the quarantine leave with very different interpretations. (Independent)
Young driver suffers injuries after Rabat incident
An 18-year-old female passenger suffered serious injuries, after a car she was in crashed and overturned. Police said the accident occurred at around 11am at Triq l-Imdina, in Rabat. From its preliminary investigations, it results a 25-year-old man from Mosta was driving a Volkswagen Bora, when he lost control of the car and crashed into a boundary wall, causing the car to overturn. (Maltatoday)
Covid-19 Update
Two people lost their lives while Covid-19 positive, health authorities said, meaning that the death tally has now reached 487. 762 new cases were recorded on Saturday, while recoveries reached 1107.
CDE News
