LOCAL NEWS
Press Conference by Health Superintendent Prof. Charmaine Gauci (11th April, 1230)
Twenty new cases were registered from over 1,000 swabs in the past 24 hours. Half of these concern immigrants living in Hal Far. The persons who were identified as positive were transferred into isolation.
The other cases include two women who work at Gozo General Hospital, one as a carer the other as a cleaner. The former had shown no symptoms but was identified through contact tracing. Another carer was found positive at Karin Grech Hospital.
Third Covid-19 victim in Malta is 84-year old man
The Ministry of Health has confirmed an 84-year old as the third victim of Covid-19 in our country.
The man was hospitalised yesterday and passed away this morning. He suffered from other health conditions.
While expressing its condolences to the family of the victim, it urged the public to follow directives issued by authorities in order to protect the elderly and vulnerable persons.
Inspections on quarantine and gatherings
59 persons were each fined €100 during the continuous rounds Police are conducting to ensure no gatherings of more than 3 persons take place in public areas, as per the legal notice issued by Government. In the meantime, no one was found breaching obligatory quarantine during the 232 inspections that were conducted in the last 24 hours. Although these are festive days, the appeal remains for one and all to be responsible and co-operate with the directives that are being issued by the authorities.
In the meantime, food and drinks establishments have followed the regulations to continue having their doors closed. No establishment was found to be open during any of the 850 inspections that were conducted in the Maltese islands.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Timesofmalta.com
Stay indoors or brace yourself for harsher measures – Robert Abela
Robert Abela has warned that unless they wanted harsher measures, people should stay indoors in the coming days.
The coming two weeks are what will make or break us, the Prime Minister said during an interview on One news, calling for strict discipline and shouldering of responsibility.
He urged people to share Easter lunch with their housemates, and to not go to their relatives’.
Better times will come, but for now people needed to heed the health authorities’ advice, he added.
Independent
Coronavirus: Prisoners to be transferred, guards living at the prison
In order to safeguard prisoners at the Corradino Correctional Facility in Paola from COVID-19, prison guards are living at the facility and plans are underway to transfer vulnerable prisoners to a more segregated area, just in case the facility is contaminated, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on this week’s edition of Indepth.
Fearne was being interviewed by The Malta Independent’s Media Consultant Rachel Attard about the plans that the ministry has in store regarding the COVID-19 crisis, including the use of masks by the public and the contingency plan the ministry has for postponed medical appointments
Newsbook
Guidelines issued to assist consumers who had holiday cancelled
The Consumer Association has published guidelines both to assist those consumers who had their holiday cancelled and also to those whose holiday has to date not been cancelled but have instead been offered a voucher. In a statement issued on Saturday, the association explained that the law that protects consumers when their holiday has been cancelled by the travel agent is still in place as are the applicable consumer rights.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of package tours have been or are being cancelled and this has affected many consumers.
Printed
The Times quotes migrant rescue support NGO Alarm Phone which said that AFM officers clashed with migrants stranded at sea on Thursday. A spokesperson for the army said she had no comment to make while the OPM refused to deny the allegations outright.
In-Nazzjon says that a group of 64 migrants were allowed to disembark in Senglea in the early hours of Friday after being out at sea for days. The paper says that the newly- arrived were medically tested before being taken in detention.
The Independent carries an interview with Health Minister Chris Fearne who said that measures are being taken to protect the 157 inmates and wardens at the Corradino Correctional Facility.
L-Orizzont speaks to Finance Minister Edward Scicluna following an EU summit that reached an agreement over a €500 billion aid package. Scicluna said that Malta now has the “go-ahead” by the EU to support the private sector.
The Independent reports 13 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, now having reached 350 since the start of the spread. The paper says that most of the latest identified patients are linked with the health sector.
L-Orizzont says that health authorities are expected to ramp up measures in homes for the elderly to control the spread of the coronavirus. Among the cases discovered on Friday, there was a St Vincent de Paule resident.
The Times quotes advice by Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci urging people to make healthy eating choices over Easter. Some countries have reported that people with weight issues are more at risk if they contract the virus.
In-Nazzjon pick a public Facebook message posted by a patient who recovered from Covid-19 after battling it for more than a month. Martin Attard declared that he won over the virus in solitude and “isolated from the world”.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
WHO investigating reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge.
South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing that the virus may have been “reactivated” rather than the patients being re-infected.
The Geneva-based WHO, asked about the report from Seoul, told Reuters in a brief statement: “We are aware of these reports of individuals who have tested negative for COVID-19 using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and then after some days testing positive again.
“We are closely liaising with our clinical experts and working hard to get more information on those individual cases. It is important to make sure that when samples are collected for testing on suspected patients, procedures are followed properly,” it said.
British scientists optimist that vaccine could be ready by September
The Times of London carries a report that British scientists are making great steps forward in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.
A vaccine against coronavirus could be ready as soon as September, the British scientist leading one of the world’s most advanced efforts has said.
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, told The Times she was “80 per cent confident” that the vaccine being developed by her team would work, with human trials due to begin in the next fortnight.
She added that having something ready by the autumn is “just about possible if everything goes perfectly”, but warned that “nobody can promise it’s going to work”.
EU Corner
EU Commission to allow state aid for capital injections in private companies
The European Commission is proposing an extension in the State Aid temporary framework, adopted last month, in its bid to further support European economies in facing the challenges brought by the current pandemic. The new measures will allow Member States to provide capitalisation to companies facing severe difficulties in the wake of restrictions associated with efforts aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
The Temporary Framework increased Member States’ flexibility in providing public support to research, testing and production of products relevant to fight the coronavirus outbreak, to protect jobs and to further support the economy.
In total, the Commission has adopted 43 decisions approving 53 national measures in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. Since its adoption on 19 March 2020, the Commission has taken 39 State aid decisions based on the Temporary Framework to approve 49 national measures that provide much needed liquidity to European businesses in these difficult times.
More News:
For a Fact-Checked Aggregated Service of CoVid-19 related information, please visit: https://corporatedispatch.com/category/coronavirus/
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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.
