Updated 1245 – Covid-19 Update
Malta registered 175 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, authorities said. The new cases were detected following 3,293 swab tests. With 67 patients recovering 2,749 cases remain active. Two more patients have died, with Malta now having 238 fatalities.
Malta with 2nd highest vaccination rate in the EU
Malta is vaccinating people against COVID-19 at a faster rate than most of its European Union peers, according to data collected by a global statistics website and quoted by The Times of Malta. With almost 9,500 jabs given by Friday, inly Denmark has a higher rate of administration.
The data, which was last updated on Friday, states that 2.15 per cent of locals have received a vaccine dose, compared to 2.54 per cent of Danish residents.
Slovenia, Italy and Spain follow behind with 1.69 per cent, 1.62 per cent and 1.45 per cent respectively.
Property sales strong during pandemic
Government incentives in the property market have surpassed expectations throughout 2020, according to the Malta Development Association while referring to the millions that the property industry left in the economy, through taxes.
MDA said in a statement that the first statistics shows that between January and December 2020, the Maltese property market registered 13,867 promises of sale, with purchases of over € 3 billion.
The result is better than that achieved in the previous year with 624 more promises of sale registered in 2020. It was pointed out that the statistics shows that last December was the best one since 2017 during which sales value reached €382 million.
Updated 0830 – Newspaper Review
The Independent covers a business breakfast by the government on Friday during which the Prime Minister said that digital and environmental awareness will lead to a ‘new prosperity’ for the country.
L-Orizzont quotes Prime Minister Robert Abela who said that investments in 190 private sector projects during 2020 are expected to create 1,900 new jobs. The projects range from foreign investments to expansions.
The Times says that the Prime Minister did not recuse himself in the Cabinet decision against granting a presidential pardon to alleged Caruana Galizia hitman Vince Muscat. Robert Abela had, in the past, represented a man Muscat is believed to want to implicate.
In-Nazzjon reports on a meeting between PN Leader Bernard Grech and the Chamber of SMEs. Grech said that the generation of wealth is successful when the economy is founded on a fair society.
L-Orizzont publishes a statement by the General Workers Union which describes the Covid-19 vaccine as a ‘ray of light’ for workers in many industries. The union proposes a vaccination programme based on risk-assessment.
The Independent reports that 11,500 Covid-19 vaccinations are expected to have been administered by Monday, equivalent to 2.5 percent of the population. Authorities will start providing daily briefings on the inoculation programme from next week.
The Times quotes Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri who said that a new Bill will make drug tests for police officers compulsory. The minister said that there is zero tolerance for drugs in the disciplined forces.
In-Nazzjon says that the number of active Covid-19 cases climbed to more than 2,600 as 193 new infections were registered on Friday. On the same day, an 89-year-old patient died from the virus, raising the number of total casualties to 236.
Governance, digitalisation and environmental awareness key to prosperity -PM Abela
Governance at key of economic success said that good governance was a crucial element of Malta’s economic success and insisted that his government’s efforts to improve governance would not stop once the Moneyval assessment has been concluded. He highlighted how recent reforms of the judiciary, police force and regulatory agencies were all essential to ensure Malta was ready to face the challenges ahead.
The PM was addressing a business event which discussed Malta’s post-pandemic recovery. Abela argued that the country’s best economic opportunity was by being more digital and environmentally aware. He revealed that H Malta Enterprise approved a total of 190 project investments, both foreign and local over the last year, creating around 1,900 employment opportunities; “24% of which are start-ups who felt confident enough to open a business during a pandemic.”
Addressing the same event, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the government was doing its utmost to ensure that the interests of Maltese and Gozitan families were safeguarded in the coming months and years. He argued that contrary to other European countries, unemployment levels remained stable and the government was not seeking to increase public revenues by raising taxes.
“Thus, in such a difficult time, this government has the flexibility to be able to manoeuvre and bear this burden”, Caruana said.
10 year plan for the Economy – Silvio Schembri
The Minister for the Economy, Silvio Schembri, said that the Government would be presenting a new economic plan for the next 10 years.
Schembri said that this plan would serve for the country to know what new skills the workers of tomorrow need while looking at new economic niches to diversify the economy.
He added that the forecast at the beginning of the pandemic was that 50,000 people would end up unemployed. He expressed the view that the pandemic had confirmed that Malta has a resilient and strong economy which included measures such as the Covid wage supplement for private sector employees.
Vaccination process to accelerate – Gauci
Vaccination numbers are rising rapidly, Health Superintendent Prof Charmaine Gauci announced on Friday, indicating that 9,496 jabs were given until yesterday. She said that by Monday, more than 13,200 doses would have been administered, which would be equivalent to 2.57% of the population.
In her weekly briefing, Gauci explained that that the country’s vaccination strategy focused on those in clinical settings and those who most at risk.
Senior citizens in homes for the elderly are currently being vaccinated, while those aged over 85 who live in the community started receiving vaccinations on Thursday. However, The Times of Malta reported on Friday afternoon that a number of senior citizens were left to wait outside health centres for a long time, with complaints about delays, no-shows and poor organisation at health centres.
Covid-19 Update
Malta registered 193 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, with an additional 143 patients recovering. The new cases were detected from 3,602 swab tests.
One further patient died at Mater Dei Hospital earlier on Friday. Malta currently has 2,643 COVID-19 patients. 151 patients are currently hospitalised, 16 of them in intensive care.
CDE News
