A dry autumn with initial storms expected for Malta

Aug 4 2021

Malta’s autumn season is set to endure a dry and scorching experience, with some severe thunderstorms earlier on thrown in the mix. Facebook weather page ‘Malta Weather’ posted how autumn 2021 is set to be warmer and drier than usual, as warm seas and the tail end of a cold front concoct some bad weather for the island.

The night is not about to offer any respite as the lowest temperatures are set to fluctuate between 26 and 29 degrees Celsius. The incoming heatwaves will also record higher temperatures as they reach higher than the 10°C average (a heat wave is defined as three or more consecutive days with temperatures which overcome that time period’s usual average by 5°C or more). Were it only heat, the sea could offer some possible cooling off, but the predicted storms will surely instigate some weather-induced confusion.

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Photo Source: Inlingua Malta

82 COVID-19 cases registered with 293 recoveries

Aug 4 2021

Malta has registered 82 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours from 3,346 swab tests, while 293 patients have recovered. No deaths were registered in the past 24 hours. This information was announced by the official Facebook page of Malta’s Ministry for Health.

As of Tuesday 3rd August 2021, 765,417 vaccine doses were administered of which 401,644 were 1st doses. 387,400 people are currently fully vaccinated.

To date, Malta has registered 34,590 COVID-19 cases in total, of which: 32,438 have recovered, 423 died and 1333 are still active.

Mater Dei Hospital is currently treating a total of 30 COVID-19 positive patients, five of whom are in the ITU. The average age of yesterday’s cases was 37.

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Green NGOs propose lowering scooter driving age to 16

Aug 4 2021

A document released by three NGOS – Friends of the Earth Malta, Moviment Graffiti and Birdlife Malta – calls for the lowering of the national scooter driving age to 16-years of age. The proposal accompanies several other sustainability oriented policies to be implemented in Malta’s current Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). The LCDS, according to the document, ‘fails to deliver the full extent of actions and measures required to realistically meet the overarching carbon neutrality target by 2050.

The document describes how as Malta is ‘besieged’ by tree-cutting and destruction of agricultural land, it is shifting to alternative means of transport and not widening roads that will save Malta from ‘gridlock’. Along with scooter driving age reduction, the NGOs are calling for a restructuring of the transport sector, the removal of road license fees for motorbikes, higher grants for e-bikes for students, and incentives for employers to install bicycle infrastructure.

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Photo Source: Deva Darshan

Preparations for booster COVID-19 jab in final phases

Aug 4 2021

Preparations are underway to start administering the booster COVID-19 shot as medical sources are reporting lessening immunity in certain groups of people who had their jab earlier this year. iNews Malta were informed by governmental sources that the preparations are reaching their final phases, with the booster shot expected to start being rolled out in a few weeks. The same source also informed the newsroom that Maltese authorities ordered the booster shot for this year, next year and even 2023.

Medical professionals emphasised how the majority of those infected are unvaccinated individuals. There are still however occasional reports of people who get the virus despite being fully vaccinated. Foreign countries have started to experience this already and it was a predictable outcome. Israel has already start administering the booster shot to specific age groups, with Germany planning to start the rollout in September.

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Photo Source: The Conversation