Update 1244 – Malta added another 115 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, detected from one of the highest number of swabs taken so far – 3144.
Some 39 coronavirus patients recovered, meaning Malta now has 1845 active cases.
Update 0920 A 77 year old man is the latest victim of Coronavirus in Malta. This was announced by the health Ministry in a statement on Saturday. The man died in a residence for the elderly during the night.
This brings the death toll to 50.
Maltese optimistic on economic recovery – Eurobarometer
A slight majority (52%) of the Maltese has expressed hope that believe that the economic situation in the country will recover between 2022-2023. The latest Eurobarometer survey, showed that despite the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, the local population was rather optimistic, and were convinced much more than European counterparts that things will get better sooner rather than later.
49% of the Maltese were not satisfied with the measures taken by government to fight Coronavirus. 46% felt that these measures were satisfactory. Despite the significance of the pandemic around the world, only one-quarter of the population felt that health was their most important concern. It was once again migration that topped the bill, with 58% seeing it as their biggest worry. Only 18% said that they were worried with the economic situation.
32 new companies in Malta
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Malta Enterprise has so far attracted 35 companies to Malta. Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said that all throughout 2019, Malta had seen 32 new companies set up shore on the islands.
“An encouraging result indeed”, the Minister said, who added that the companies vary from manufacturing to digital games, artificial intelligence and blockchain. “As a nation, we must maintain this momentum by ensuring that we’re providing the ideal ecosystem for operators, as well as stand shoulder to shoulder with local and international businesses who call Malta their home.”
He also highlighted the fact some firms even managed to switch their production lines to other products to accommodate new demand. “We have some exceptionally good success stories, particularly in the production of PPE and other COVID-related products, particularly in our textiles and plastics sectors,” said Minister Schembri.
Whilst addressing the conference entitled ‘Future Realised’, Schembri also noted that “Budget ’21 is a testimonial of Malta’s innovative economic agility in adapting to challenging circumstances. By virtue of these solid foundations, as a government we have put forward to our nation a budget without taxes, that seeks to incentivise our businesses and safeguard as many jobs as possible.”
Covid-19 Update
Health authorities announced 121 new cases were registered since yesterday. A further 55 patients recovered. The new cases were identified from 2,685 swab tests. The number of active cases stands at 1,770.
In her weekly update, Health Superintendent Prof Charmaine Gauci said that the most common clusters continue to be the family and work place clusters, while cases in homes for the elderly appear to be under control. There are 44 active cases in Gozo. She also said that 12 patients are in ITU.
Malta continues to maintain a high level of testing, registering the second-highest number of tests per capita in Europe. According to data published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), updated up to the second week of October, Malta’s testing rate stood at 3,335.97 tests per 100,000 people.
Only Luxembourg had a higher rate, having carried out 6,452.58 tests per 100,000 people.
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