33 of 36 new COVID-19 infections this week were imported

May 21 2021

Addressing a press conference today, Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci stated that the majority of new infections are being imported. Of 36 new infections this week, 33 of these infections were imported from abroad, with only the remaining three being from households. The Superintendent continued by saying that despite this, the vaccine roll-out is designed to help mitigate the spread from imported cases as the EU is, along with Malta, attempting to form regulations to mitigate overseas spread.

She continued by urging the Maltese to receive the vaccine as this will help protect them should any surge in imported cases increases. Malta is currently open for tourists from Germany, Netherlands and Denmark, with tourists from said countries not needing to adhere to a quarantine period upon arrival. Malta its till attempting to get onto the UK’s green list, despite the latter fearing a third wave of cases.

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Photo Source: Charmaine Gauci FB

New body cameras for police officers on duty

May 21 2021

Minister for Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement Byron Camilleri announced today that the police corp will be getting body cams for each individual police officer. The investment, which cost around €1 million, will, according to the Minister, establish a more accountable and respected police corp, whilst also protecting both corp members and citizens in day to day affairs.

The cameras will be switched on during every interaction between officer and public. Everything will be recorded onto a server with police officers scanning their police identity card which will assign them a camera. Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa stated that the cameras will contribute to more legitimacy, accountability and transparency in the force, ensuring data protection laws be adhered to.

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Photo Source: Giuseppe Attard – The Malta Independent

COVID-19 active cases below 100

May 21 2021

Malta has officially lower than 100 cases, standing at 96. The vaccination rollout continues as Malta has officially administer 453,711 doses, of which 296,548 are first doses. The vaccination rollout, along with the health restrictions, contributed to the desired effect of mitigating the virus spread. This helped to ease the pressure put on health care systems in Malta, with the admissions to hospital reducing drastically.

The vaccination rollout is now also open for over-16s, which helps to target more age groups and reach towards herd immunity. The epidemiological situation allows Malta to open up by June to tourists, even though the UK has not yet placed Malta on its green list, despite the former expecting a third wave of the Indian COVID-19 variant.

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Photo Source: Chris Fearne FB, Sahha FB

Outrage after DJs banned from playing due to new COVID-19 directives

May 21 2021

No DJs will be allowed to play in restaurants, breakfast and dining rooms, and staff canteens as per a new Tourism Infrastructure directive effective 24th May 2021. In terms of music, volume is to be kept at a low volume such ‘that it does not cause patrons to talk loudly or lean towards each other.’

Singers and musicians are given permission to perform only if they maintain a distance of at least four metres from patrons ‘due to the generation and emission of respiratory droplets of various sizes that occurs during singing.’

Outrage over this fact surfaced online especially by DJs, calling the directive immensely discriminatory against DJs who have not been able to publicly perform throughout the whole COVID-19 pandemic. The details are all detailed in A Malta Tourism Infrastructure directive titled ‘Standards for Operations on the Principles of Social Distancing, Enhanced Hygienic Practices and Minimised Infection Risks.

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Photo Source: @tenishiamusic IG, @iamdebrii IG, @poccigram IG, @koroma_mlt IG