LATEST UPDATE Updated 1745- News Portal Briefing
Times of Malta reports that healthcare workers, those over 85 and those who live in care homes will be the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
MaltaToday says Lawyer Joe Brincat has asked the Caruana Galizia public inquiry to take note of the murdered journalist’s own writings on how she viewed police protection
Newsbook reports that the harbour ferry had almost 1.5 million users
TVM reports that the Cardinal Mario Grech paid courtesy visit to the Prime Minister
Updated 1300
Covid-19 Update
139 new COVID-19 cases were reported today from a total of 3,192 swab tests. Health authorities said that 101 patients recovered, meaning that the number of active cases climbed again over the 2,000 mark.
Malta’s tally has gone up to 10,659 with 155 fatalities Of the 97 cases reported on Sunday, 26 were contacts with family members who tested positive, four were contacts with work colleagues who also tested positive and five were contacts with other positive cases.
PM says Caruana Galizia inquiry should end next week
Prime Minister Robert Abela said today that the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia should come to an end next week. “I believe the inquiry has already had enough time to fulfil its work and I have not received any request to extend,” he said, adding that that the date of the first extension was suggested by the board itself.
Abela explained that the board of inquiry, tasked with investigating whether Caruana Galizia’s murder could have been avoided, has already been given enough time to fulfil its mandate.
The inquiry was extended by three months in September because of delays caused by COVID-19.
2,285 victims of domestic violence made use of support services in 2018
In 2018, 2,285 victims of domestic violence made use of one or more services available to them, the National Statistics Office said, adding that 83% of these people were female.
When compared to 2016, in 2018 people who experienced domestic violence and made use of the services in this area increased by 26%, according to data published this morning.
In 2018, 1,540 cases were reported to the Police, 1,226 cases were registered with the Domestic Violence Unit within Aġenzija Appoġġ, the national agency offering psycho-social welfare services, and smaller numbers were reported with other services such as in shelters. The NSO said that these numbers would involve people making use of services more than once.
Eight migrants found hiding on ship at Freeport
Eight stowaways were found hiding on a ship at the Malta Freeport. Police confirmed that migrants tried to stowaway on a ship at Malta Freeport this morning, after they were found by crew members.
The stowaways joined the ship in Casablanca, Morocco and passed through Spain before reaching Malta and being found.
The migrants are still onboard the ship. Police officers are following the situation.
Their nationality has not been identified.
Updated 0830 – Newspaper Review
The Times says that Health Minister Chris Fearne will announce its Covid-19 vaccination strategy today, with the first jabs expected to start being administered to front-liners and vulnerable people in January.
L-Orizzont quotes Prime Minister Robert Abela who said that Malta will start the road ‘back to normality’ from January as the first Covid-19 vaccines start being administered. Abela said the government is succeeding in keeping the pandemic under control.
The Independent reports that Covid-19 restrictions will remain in place until after the first vaccines start being received in a month’s time. During a political event on Sunday, Prime Minister Robert Abela appealed for caution.
In-Nazzjon reports that Covid-19 victims have risen to 149 following the death of two patients on Sunday. A 69-year-old man died at Mater Dei while an 81-year-old victim died at St Vincent de Paule Home.
L-Orizzont speaks with a Covid-19 patient who developed further complications while in treatment. The woman said that she wanted to raise awareness on the seriousness of the disease and the efforts by healthcare professionals.
The Times says that police on the beat will start using body cameras from next year following a €1 million deal with a German company. A spokesperson for the corps said that captured footage cannot be tampered with.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN Leader Bernard Grech who announced the party is proposing amendments to the divorce and domestic violence laws. He said that there should be a maintenance mechanism and improvements to the Family Courts.
The Independent speaks to a spokesperson for the Education Ministry about the effects of the pandemic on the early school-leaving rate. The ministry said that it is still premature to assess the impact but its main efforts this year have been to re-open schools.
L-Orizzont carries an interview with Animal Welfare Commissioner Alison Bezzina who said that exotic animals have no place in homes and zoos. Bezzina insisted that animals should neither be considered objects nor personal property.
Morning Briefing
Vaccine roll-out plan to be announced today – PM
Government will announce its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out plan today, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced yesterday, adding that restrictive measures will remain in place until health authorities direct otherwise. “There is light but we must remain vigilant if we want to get there,” Abela said, re-asserting his commitment to see the country operating in business as usual mode by May.
Abela also tackled the economy during his address, highlighting the recent A+ rating awarded by credit agency Fitch. While other EU states register record unemployment and crashing economies, he said, Malta was on track to one of its best employment records in history. Fitch, Abela said, had even commended Malta on it reforms on the judiciary and rule of law, noting that the agency highlighted the fact that tehse had “accelerated” since he took office in January.
Good, trustworthy post-Covid plan needed – PN
Opposition Leader Bernard Grech called on Government so swiftly come up with a “good, trustworthy plan” for Malta’s post-COVID recovery, insisting thatbusinesses needed to be assured that the wage supplement scheme would be kept in place till the middle of next year. Dr Grech reiterated the appeal to the Prime Minister to speedily declare his strategy about distribution of the Covid vaccine so that it will reach everyone.
Grech highlighted recent issues with the distribution of the influenza vaccine, which is not reaching everyone with a process challenged by smaller consignments than required and late deliveries, as well as with a consignment which is not suitable for infants under three years of age. The Opposition Leader also took the side of nurses in the current industrial dispute, saying that it was not right for nurses to have to go to court to be paid what is due to them.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech touched on several proposals for divorce law reforms, including the removal of the four-year waiting period befor being granted divorce. “The Prime Minister has already made two statements in which he said he wants to introduce amendments to the law – but these have only been words. Over a month later these statements have not produced anything concrete,” Grech said. He suggested the introduction of a clear mechanism on maintenance payments, so that these payments are based on clear calculations and points of reference.
GWU declares industrial dispute with gaming companies
The General Workers’ Union said on Sunday it had declared an industrial dispute with gaming companies NetEnt and Evolution Gaming Group for breach of the law on collective redundancies. The former last week started to lay off hundreds of workers as it was acquired by the latter.
The GWU said the two companies had failed to acknowledge it as an employee representative for the purpose of collective redundancies under the Collective Redundancies (Protection of Employment) Regulations.
The Union added that the companies had refused to provide a statement with the reasons for the redundancies, the number of employees being made redundant, the number of employees normally employed, the criteria for the selection of the employees to be made redundant, details regarding any redundancy payments which are due and the period over which redundancies are to be effected.
Covid-19 Update
97 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Sunday 2,907 swab tests were carried out. The Health Ministry also confirmed another 107 recoveries from the virus, which pushes up to 8,396 the total number of persons who have recovered so far. The number of active cases stands at 1971.
The health authorities have announced that there were two more Covid-19 deaths, taking the total up to 151 deaths. The first was a 69-year-old who was confirmed as Covid-19 positive on 21 November. He died on Saturday at Mater Dei Hospital. The second case was an 81-year-old man who was confirmed positive on 18 November and died on Sunday at St Vincent de Paul.
CDE News
