LOCAL NEWS
Press Conference by Health Superintendent Prof. Charmaine Gauci (9th April 1330 hrs)
1,018 swab were carried out yesterday, resulting in 38 new cases. Malta now has 337 positive cases. 25 cases concern women, including an expectant mother and a four-year old.
One of the persons worked at Piscopo Cash and Carry in Paola, and last reported to work on Monday 6th April. While risk to clients is minimal, shoppers visiting the outlet up to the indicated date are requested to call 111.
Another case concerns a carer who works in an old people’s home. All cases appear to be locally transmitted.
Prof Gauci said appealed to the general public not to gather together over Easter Weekend. “We will enjoy this celebration next year. Let’s protect our vulnerable ones. It is with a heavy heart that I announce these deaths to you, so please cooperate and stay safe”.
Statements by the Ministry of Health – First two COVID-related deaths
After a relatively quiet day with six new cases registered in the previous past 24 hours, Minister for Health Chris Health announced the first death in an evening press conference. A 92-year Gozitan woman has become the first casualty to the COVID-19 coronavirus in Malta.
The woman died on Wednesday afternoon in the Gozo hospital. She had underlying medical conditions including heart and kidney problems and diabetes.
Earlier this morning, the Ministry of Health has announced a second coronavirus-related death this morning, a 79-year-old who was being treated at Karen Grech Hospital. The elder, who suffered from other conditions, had tested positive three days ago and passed away last night.
Press Conference – Economy Minister Silvio Schembri (9th April, 1430)
Economy Minister Silvio Schembri in a press conference this afternoon explained that recently announced measures to support businesses and employees are already at an advanced stage of implementation. These include deferral of taxes, salary supplements, quarantine leave payments, teleworking support and provision of liquidity. Schembri said that 12,885 applications for the wage supplement measure had already been received by Malta Enterprise, almost three-quarters of which coming from self- employment.
No new measures have been announced, but Schembri said that Government was monitoring the situation and would be addressing further support as required.
Schembri said that government is processing almost 53,000 applications from full time employees and around 10,000 from part-timers. Regarding quarantine leave, 1112 applications on behalf of 2375 members of staff were received.
Kurt Farrugia, CEO of Malta Enterprise said that the agency will send out a note to all employers to confirm that employees have been paid and that they are still employed with them. Failure of passing on these funds to employees will be considered a criminal offence. Malta Enterprise will be publishing the list of beneficiary companies.
Farrugia also spoke about the manufacturing sector, indicating that supply chain issues were arising from the fact that a number of factories around Europe are currently shut down.
Malta Chamber President appeals for a strategy on economic recovery to fellow European business leaders
Earlier this month, Perit David Xuereb participated in a high-level conference meeting involving his counterparts, Presidents of all national business organisations members of BusinessEurope in order to discuss the serious impact of Covid-19 on the European economy, the EU response and business’ role for the recovery.
During this discussion, Perit Xuereb commented on the need to manage the crisis but also to look beyond it. “Business plays a crucial role for recovery in getting the economy back on track. After advocating for and securing the right policies and financial support to keep as many companies afloat in the short term, businesses must stabilize their operations and quickly start planning for the aftermath of the crisis in order to hit the ground running.”
The Chamber President Xuereb added, “the economic, social and environmental landscapes will change permanently, and business needs to adapt quickly to the new dynamics, or otherwise risk becoming irrelevant.”
MEDIA COVERAGE
Timesofmalta.com
Valyou Naxxar confirm employees test positive for COVID-19
Two of Malta’s most popular shops – Valyou Supermarket and SCAN – have confirmed staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus. Both establishments are exempt from the closure laws introduced by the government last month amid the virus outbreak because they sell what is considered as ‘essential goods’.
In a statement, the supermarket said that both its store and the shopping areas in its Naxxar outlet were sanitised on Monday after a warehouse worker tested positive for the novel virus. The supermarket said the authorities allowed it to continue operating after the necessary sanitisation measures were taken.
Maltatoday
Visitors will no longer be allowed to see patients at Mater Dei Hospital as the facility ramps up prevention measures to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. The hospital said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night that it was temporarily suspending visiting hours as part of its Covid-19 prevention and control measures. Soon after the first cases of Covid-19 were registered in Malta at the start of March, Mater Dei had restricted visiting hours. But now the hospital has stopped visiting hours outright.
“These restrictions may be difficult for patients and their loved ones, but Mater Dei Hospital is taking these necessary steps to protect patients and staff. This policy is temporary and is being done to safeguard the health of our patients,” the hospital said.
Printed
The Malta Business Weekly reports that Bortex Group has shifted operations to produce face masks and medical scrubs to support hospitals and clinics in Malta. Group CEO Peter Borg expects production to reach up to 30,000 masks every month. The Malta Business Weekly announces that 108 Air Malta pilots have been made redundant after offers to accept a pay cut were rejected by the union representing them. Similar offers have so far also been resisted by the cabin crew union.
The Times leads with the death of a 92-year-old woman in Gozo on Wednesday afternoon, the first casualty linked to Covid-19. Health Minister Chris Fearne announced the loss and confirmed that the woman had had heart and kidney complications.
The Independent reports that a baby of one month has become the youngest Covid-19 patient in Malta. Six new cases were confirmed on Thursday by the Superintendent for Public Health, bringing the total number of cases to 299.
L-Orizzont follows a press conference called on Wednesday evening, announcing the passing away of an elderly woman from Gozo after contracting the virus. Health Minister Chris Fearne said that “sadly” this will not the last death and urged for people to follow safety instructions.
In-Nazzjon says that PN Leader Adrian Delia expressed his condolences to the family of the first coronavirus victim who died in Gozo on Wednesday. Health authorities are appealing for people to refrain from going out unnecessarily.
The Times quotes the pilots’ union spokesperson Dominic Azzopardi who said that Air Malta’s decision to lay off pilots has left him “speechless”. He called on the government to nationalise the airline as other countries have done with their flag carriers.
L-Orizzont says that an agreement has been reached assuring Armed Forces officers that they will be remunerated for the added hours on duty during the coronavirus emergency. Negotiations were held between the government, the AFM and the General Workers Union.
Editorials
The Times’ Editorial takes the wider Government to task for abusing of the current pandemic to take two decisions which show little social conscience – that of refusing to carry out any further rescues at sea as well the decision by Identity Malta to send back home those non-EU children whose parents are in the process of challenging a decision to deport them on the grounds of their parents’ income. The latter decision was eventually withdrawn but the Editor expresses hope that neither the government nor one of its agencies would use the coronavirus as an excuse to solve its difficult problems and abandon the most vulnerable members of society.
The Independent draws inspiration from the current time of Lent and calls on its readers, whether Christian or not to make an extra sacrifice to respect and be patient with each other in these difficult times. By making the necessary sacrifices, we too can come out of this, one day, as a better community into a new life.
The Business Today refers to the current situation at Air Malta, with the mass redundancies announced by the airline over the past 24 hours described as a strong response to the unions’ inability to compromise at a time of crisis.
Whether these redundancies will be enough to help the airline survive the crisis still has to be seen but the company evidently had no other choice. The Editor argues that the current crisis should be used as an opportunity to start afresh with an airline that runs a lean operation with work conditions that respect employees but which also make sense in an evolved airline industry.
L-Orizzont takes a wider political-ideological approach to the current crisis, arguing that the pandemic has highlighted the failures of the neo-liberal system. These include the complete liberalisation of markets, the privatisation of the health care sector and the focus on multinational companies rather than the individual rights of the workers.
In-Nazzjon also takes an ideological approach, focusing on the need to return to traditional Christian values – including solidarity, the common good and the value of life, which are being re-discovered as we navigate through the current pandemic.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Bank of England to temporarily finance UK government spending
The Bank of England has agreed temporarily to finance government borrowing in response to COVID-19 if funds cannot immediately be raised from debt markets, reviving a measure last used to any large degree during the 2008 financial crisis.
Britain’s government typically borrows money direct from markets through bond issuance, and this week financial markets showed a strong appetite to fund more than 10 billion pounds of government bonds, some at record-low yields. But markets were far choppier last month – before the BoE said it would buy 200 billion pounds of assets, mostly bonds – and Thursday’s announcement gives the BoE scope to finance the government directly.
Slowdown in coronavirus related deaths in Spain
The number of daily coronavirus-related deaths in Spain slowed on Thursday as 683 fatalities were recorded in 24 hours. The total of people who have succumbed to the virus now stands at 15,238, the health ministry said. Confirmed infections across the country rose to 152,446 from 146,690 on Wednesday.
The Spanish prime minister has said the country’s latest coronavirus data is “encouraging”. Pedro Sanchez told parliament “The fire starts to come under control” on Thursday. The country has the second highest number of global cases.
EU Corner
EU to take up pandemic fight on a global level
The European Commission has set out plans for a robust and targeted EU response to support partner countries’ efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. The EU’s collective action will focus on addressing the immediate health crisis and resulting humanitarian needs, strengthening partner countries’ health, water and sanitation systems and their research and preparedness capacities to deal with the pandemic, as well as mitigating the socioeconomic impact.
To underpin these actions, the EU will secure financial support to partner countries amounting to more than €15.6 billion from existing external action resources. Together with our partners, we are making sure that the substantial EU funding already allocated to them is targeted to help them deal with the impact of coronavirus.
“European Governments need to do much more” – EP President
After lengthy negotiations at Eurogroup level failed to bring about a unified European response, European President David Sassoli called on for greater responsibility amongst national Governments, urging for the creation of a fund for economic recovery to share the costs of restarting European economies.
While highlighting the strong response taken so far by the EU, including by providing significant budgetary contributions and through the relaxation of state aid rules, Sassoli did not mince his words and admits European nations can do more. “In this moment there is a need to do much more.
Our citizens, businesses, families, young people are worried about an uncertain future because in all our countries this crisis, and health emergency, will destroy millions of jobs.”
More News:
For a Fact-Checked Aggregated Service of CoVid-19 related information, please visit: https://corporatedispatch.com/category/coronavirus/
Additional info
Helplines
111 – For those who feel symptoms of COVID-19 or who wish further information
21411 411 – For those in mandatory quarantine who require provisions of food and medicine
1772 – For those who are feeling lonely.
153 – For those who require information about the financial measures administered by the Department for Social Security.
144 – For those who require information about the financial measures administered by Malta Enterprise.
2204 2200 – For Maltese residents who were caught in one of the high-risk countries and wish to return to Malta
25981000 – For those who have questions about the educational sector and the impact of the coronavirus
21692447– For hoteliers and tourists who have questions about the announced measures.
5903030 – For elderly persons bereft of support who need medicines, ready-made meals or food products (fruit and vegetables).
25469111 – For those who work in the gaming industry.
This daily update bulletin is being compiled for the Chamber of Advocates by CI Consulta from Corporate ID Group. CI Consulta delivers policy research and analysis, evaluations and impact assessments up to policy implementation and integration.
