Motorcyclist, 45, dies in crash in Sliema / Malta News Briefing – Saturday 11 December 2021

Updated 1245 – Mid-Day briefing

German rating agency maintains Malta’s A rating

Germain rating agency DBRS has re-affirmed Malta’s long-term rating at ‘A’, with a stable trend, on the back of high economic growth rates and an improvement in its public finances. The agency noted that the country’s greylist has so far had “no significant or discernable impact on the real economy”. The latest assessment notes how COVID-19 fiscal support had eaten significantly into Malta’s coffers, generating a large deficit and higher level of public debt, a robust economic recovery underpinned by a high vaccination rate should ensure the country returns to a healthier fiscal position. (Times of Malta/Independent)

Italian man loses life in motorbike accident

Maltese roads claimed the life of another bike rider, this time a 45-year-old Italian involved in a traffic accident at Tower road in Sliema, at around 3am on Saturday morning. Police said an Italian man residing in Gzira lost control of his Honda motorcycle, and consequently fell and got dragged along the road, until he hit the pavement. The victim was certified as dead on the spot.

Covid-19: Active Covid-19 cases were up to 1408 after 111 new infections were registered on Saturday, health authorities said. This was the highest number for the past nine days. However, hospitalised patients dropped to 21 – three of whom in ITU.

Morning Briefing

Mask requirement into force today
As of this morning, all persons aged three and over are obliged to wear their mask outside at all times, with fines reaching €100 applying. The measure was announced earlier this week by Health Minister Chris Fearne, with the Legal notice being issued on Friday evening.

Justyne Caruana breached ethics – Standards Commissioner
The Standards Commissioner has concluded an investigation into Education Minister Justyne Caruana and her decision to gift her boyfriend a €5,000-per-month sports contract. George Hyzler has passed on his findings to parliament’s ethics committee, which has to decide whether to make the report public or not. In a statement, the Nationalist Party said Caruana should resign and if not, Abela should remove her as minister. The PN said the minister should be “leading by example” and not handing out such contracts.

Petitions committee refuses to hear PN request on cannabis

Petitions Committee chairman Joe Mizzi has said a petition calling for changes to the proposed cannabis Bill will be discussed in February as per committee rules. In a statement, the Labour Party accused the Opposition of political opportunism and inconsistency. Whip Glen Bedingfield said that when it came to the cannabis reform, the Opposition had not participated in a consultation process and instead was now seeking to “disrupt the parliamentary process”. The PN had called for an urgent meeting to discuss the petition that 53 organisations and individuals submitted with changes to the cannabis Bill.

Covid-19 Update

88 new cases of coronavirus were reported by health authorities on Friday, with 59 recoveries. During the last 24 hours, a 77-year-old man passed away, taking the death tally to 470. 23 From 1364 active cases, 23 are currently hospitalised, three in ITU.