Update 1900 – News Portal Review
TVM says the health authorities have announced that 21 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 in Malta over the past 24 hours after 2,326 swab tests were carried out. 590 cases are presently still active.
MaltaToday reports the COVID-19 wage supplement introduced as part of government’s economic rescue plan will be extended beyond October, Robert Abela said.
Times of Malta says seventy-eight persons employed with several companies in which former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri has a business interest have filed an urgent application in court asking for their wages to be exempted from a freezing order issued by a judge last week.
The Malta Independent reports an isolation room for students who have a high temperature or other possible symptoms of COVID-19 is one of several measures which St Margaret College Primary School has taken up to prevent and reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
Newsbook says a 62-year-old man from Birżebbuġa is being interrogated by the police in connection with a report of a young boy being handed a hunting firearm.
Update : 1245
21 new cases of Covid-19 were announced on Sunday, while 54 patients recovered, the health authorities said. This means that the number of active cases dropped to 590. Thus far, 2,358 people have recovered from the virus, while 31 have died. The total number of virus cases since the pandemic first came to Malta now stands at 2,979. Between Saturday and Sunday, 2,326 swab tests were carried out, bringing the total number of such tests having been conducted up to 247,354.
Malta Independent
Update : 1215
The COVID-19 wage supplement will be extended beyond the end of October and also made available to some other sectors affected by the economic impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday.
Replying to questions on the forthcoming Budget, Abela said he could not say, now, if new vouchers (to boost consumer spending) would be issued by the government. But the system had been very well received.
“I am not excluding it, I will leave this for the Budget,” Abela told interviewer John Bundy on One Radio.
He insisted the budget will have a strong social dimension that will target pensioners, workers and those falling behind.
Asked about the spike in coronavirus cases and whether people had lowered their guard after having successfully contained the first wave, Abela said people remained disciplined but isolation fatigue had also kicked in.
He insisted that dealing with the pandemic was a long-term process that required flexibility.
“The COVID strategy is led by health professionals and I will be bow my head in front of their recommendations but we also have to be conscious that this is a situation that will last and imposing harsh restrictions could be counter-productive in the long term,” he said, adding that decisions required balance to be achieved.
He said that people will be allowed not to send their children to school and instead use alternative means of learning but insisted that as a parent he believed the best education is received in the classroom.
“Tomorrow, I will be sending my daughter to school. It’s a decision I took with my wife. We have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure safety but we cannot guarantee there will be no child who contracts COVID-19 at school or outside school,” he said.
On the issue of migration, the Prime Minister again insisted that Malta was “full up” and that policing efforts in certain localities were stepped up to counter instances of illegality.
Times of Malta / MaltaToday
Morning Briefing
PM Abela calls for political solution to Libyan conflict
“A political solution to the conflict in Libya remains the only viable solution. Reforms that enhance the governance of Libya’s economic and financial institutions, and that enable the fair and transparent distribution of oil proceeds to all of Libya’s society were crucial, said PM Robert Abela in his first virtual address to the UN General Assembly delivered from his office.
“This will enable Libya to address challenges related to its already strained healthcare services, worn thin by the ongoing nine-year conflict, to the detriment of Libya and the Libyan People”.
The Maltese Prime Minister also had a message to other powers seeking mileage in this war, insisting that “all actors found violating international humanitarian law and human rights in Libya will be held accountable.”
However, he maintained that the driving force to resolve the conflict needs to be wholeheartedly Libyan-led and Libyan owned.
Half of PN tesserati have already voted
The PN’s electoral commission said yesterday evening that 48% of party paid-up members have already cast their vote in the leadership election.
The party has 21,499 paid-up members who can vote in the race between incumbent Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech.
Early voting started on Friday and Saturday. Members will be able to vote again from Wednesday, with votes being counted on Saturday.
Covid-19 Update
A 92-year-old woman is the 31st Covid-19 death, the Ministry of Health said last night. She was a resident at an unidentified care home.
The elderly woman was confirmed positive for the disease on 15 September and died during the night.
Health authorities reported 29 new cases in their daily briefing yesterday, with 43 persons recovering. Active cases have gone down to 623.
CDE News
