Update 2000 – Madam Justice Edwina Grima, issued an order to freeze all assets held by Keith Schembri, Chief of Staff of former PM Joseph Muscat, Schembri’s wife and his companies, and Brian Tonna, managing partner of Nexia BT, and other linked partners and businesses.
Updated 1630 – News Portal Review
TVM says health authorities confirmed that out of 1,783 swab tests carried out in the last 24 hours, 45 new cases of Covid-19 had been registered and 32 recoveries, bringing the number of active cases to 676.
MaltaToday reports three men aged between 19 and 21 are being held in police custody after being arrested in connection to theft of fuel from a petrol station between March and June of this year.
Times of Malta says a former minority stakeholder in the Electrogas power station project had €647 million worth of its transactions flagged as “suspicious” by a US bank in 2014, secret leaked records show.
The Malta Independent reports an 83-year-old man has become the second Covid-19 related death of the day and Malta’s 23rd victim of the virus. The man continued to receive treatment at Mater Dei, where he passed away earlier today.
Newsbook says the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation raised €1 million in a 12-hour telethon on Sunday. The fund-raising event titled Għinuna Ngħinukom which was held at Where’s Everybody studios, was broadcast on all television stations and started at noon.
Updated 1531 – 23rd Covid-19 death
The Covid-19 death tally continued to rise this afternoon, with another man, 83, passing away today, the Health Ministry announced.
The update said that the man was found to have COVID-19 when he was admitted to hospital on September 16.
Updated 1359 – Covid-19 Update
Fifty people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the Health Department reported, while another 32 patients recovered.
Malta now has 676 active coronavirus cases. The daily bulletin on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page also reported that a total of 1,783 swab tests were taken between Sunday and Monday, bringing up the total to more than 233,000.
Five migrants residing in closed centres also tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, the update said.
Update 1000h
A 98-year-old man is the 22nd person to die with Covid-19, with the Health Ministry announcing his passing on Monday morning. The man tested positive for Covid-19 on 6 September, when he was taken to hospital from a home for the elderly.
The man is the oldest out of Malta’s 22 Covid-19 related deaths, and is the seventh person to die with the virus in the space of a week.
The Malta Independent reports that Malta’s COVID-19 related cases took place as follows:
Wednesday 8 April – Woman, 92, Gozo General Hospital
Thursday 9 April – Man, 79, Karin Grech Hospital
Saturday 11 April – Man, 84, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 25 April – Woman, 96, Mater Dei Hospital
Tuesday 5 May – Man, 81, Karin Grech Hospital
Wednesday 13 May – Man, 53, Mater Dei Hospital
Wednesday 27 May – Man, 97, Karin Grech Hospital
Friday 29 May – Man, 56, Mater Dei Hospital
Friday 29 May – Man, 68, Mater Dei Hospital
Friday 21 August – Man, 72, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 29 August – Woman, 86, Mater Dei Hospital
Sunday 30 August – Man, 86, Mater Dei Hospital
Tuesday 1 September – Man, 89, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 5 September – Man, 85, Mater Dei Hospital
Thursday 10 September – Man, 80, Mater Dei Hospital
Monday 14 September – Woman, 86, Mater Dei Hospital
Friday 18 September – Woman, 91, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 19 September – Man, 85, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 19 September – Woman, 72, Mater Dei Hospital
Saturday 19 September – Woman, 86, Mater Dei Hospital
Sunday 20 September – Man, 86, St. Joseph’s Home, Fgura
Updated 0835 – Newspaper Review
Morning Briefing
The Times reveals that transactions by a former minority stakeholder in the Electrogas power station were flagged as ‘suspicious’ by the banks in 2014. Afren Plc had made a total of 101 transactions amounting to €647 million.
The Independent leads with comments by Prime Minister Robert Abela who said that prolonging the Caruana Galizia public inquiry further would cause ‘more damage’. Abela said the process should not extend beyond December.
L-Orizzont quotes Prime Minister Robert Abela who said that the reopening of schools is crucial and that the educational development of children remains the government’s priority. He urged everyone to observe safety protocols.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN leader Adrian Delia who said that independence from Britain gave Malta a new optimism about the future. The Nationalist Party is celebrating the 56th anniversary since independence.
The Independent reports on the death of an 86-year-old man infected with Covid-19 on Sunday afternoon. The man, who is now Malta’s 21st coronavirus victim, tested positive on September 14.
The Times publishes the main conclusions of the international survey of children’s subjective wellbeing which finds that children between eight and twelve in Malta are dissatisfied with their general living conditions.
L-Orizzont speaks with researcher Prof. Charles Scerri who said that people with dementia can live a dignified life thanks to community care services. The paper marks the World Alzheimer Day.
In-Nazzjon reports on the leak of thousands of secret documents uncovering the role of global banks in transactions from illegal activities worth some €2 trillion. The FinCEN files were published by Buzzfeed news and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Morning Briefing
Car crashes in coffee shop
Timesofmalta.com reports that an on out-of-control car smashed into the shop window of Dolci Peccati cafeteria Sliema. The incident happened around 8.30pm, with a women requiring hospitalisation. First reports did not indicate whether the women was in the restaurant.
A medical team gave first aid to the woman on site. She was then taken to hospital by ambulance.
PM says keeping closed is huge risk to social development
Prime Minister Robert Abela made a strong case in favour of the re-opening of schools arguing that keeping schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic poses a huge risk to the education and social development of the upcoming generation.
“It would pose a bigger risk than COVID-19 itself,” Robert Abela added, insisting that Government would not accept it. Abela was being interviewed on ONE by Peppi Azzopardi, wit hthe journalist pointing out that schools were shut when cases were much less than they are today.
The Prime Minister countered that “At the time we did not know how to handle the situation and had no idea what we needed to do in order to control the impact of the virus on people’s health and on the economy. Therefore, a partial lockdown was deemed necessary in order to keep everyone as safe as possible,” he said.
The PM insisted that the authorities now have months of experience in controlling the situation as we have learnt more about the virus.”
Covid-19 Update
Malta has registered another Covid-19 related death on the last day of Summer. The Ministry of Health, through a statement, reported that a Maltese 86-year-old man, passed away after testing positive for Covid-19 at the elderly home he resided at.
The man is the sixth registered death in the past 7 days, with the last 4 dying in the past 24 hours. This marked the worst week for Malta in terms of deaths related to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, in the daily update issued by the Department of Health, Malta registered an additional 32 new cases and 30 recoveries. The number of active cases stands at 664. The man, had underlying health conditions.
Since the start of the pandemic, Malta had 2731 cases of Covid-19, of which 2047 recovered.
Caruana Galizia inquiry should not be prolonged
Prime Minister Robert Abela insisted on Sunday that that the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry should not be prolonged even further than it already has, “as it will only cause more damage”.
During the traditional Sunday interview, Abela recalled that he terms of the inquiry have been set both by the government and by the relatives of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Among those agreed terms, it was stated that the inquiry will be closed within nine months, therefore closing in August 2020, however this did not happen.”
Abela explaiend that the judges asked for an extension, which he had approved. The Prime Minister had come under fire last week when he refused to grant a further extension, with The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation insisting that the inquiry should take as long as it needs.
