Early August COVID-19 hospitalisations highest since mid-April

Aug 16 2021

According to fresh data by the EU’s disease prevention agency, the number of COVID-19 patients needing hospitalisations was the highest at the start of August since mid-April. According to the ECDC, Malta’s hospital admissions per 100,000 people rate stood at 5.05 for the period up to August 8th. April 18th saw a similar figure reported at 5.83, which was when Malta was still under quasi-lockdown in order to mitigate spread.

Despite hospitalisation rate seems to be climbing, intensive care admissions rate has remained constant as five patients are currently in the ITU. Health authorities attribute this to the COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy, with global authorities stating that the focus should shift onto hospitals when looking at measures and easing.

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Photo Source: Wikipedia

Pastizzi make international headlines as the snack holidays are planned around

Aug 16 2021

The Maltese ‘pastizz’, a snack popular amongst the island’s inhabitants, has made International headlines as global newsroom Euronews stated that it deserves a holiday planned around it. The newsroom alleged how once someone gets a taste of the iconic Maltese snack, they will be planning an entire getaway to the island just to get another bite. Pointing out how the island has a pastizzi shop in every village, making it extremely easy to get a bite, the article praises the pastry’s delicious taste to the entire world.

The article also details to its readers the various fillings ‘pastizzi’ come packing – from ricotta to peas and even anchovy. Euronews also highlighted how when famous pastizzeria ‘is-Serkin (Crystal Palace)’ was about to close down, a national outcry was initiated. The article also features a ‘What to do after you’ve eaten your pastizzi’ section, showing not only the national snack’s impact abroad, but also how it takes priority over everything during a holiday in Malta!

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Photo Source: Euronews

Over 70,000 crossed to Gozo ahead of Santa Maria festivities

Aug 16 2021

As the Maltese prepped for the famous Santa Maria celebration, a total of 73,263 people crossed over to Gozo between Wednesday 11th and Sunday 15th August to enjoy their holidays. Registering a significant 2% increase when compared to the same time period from last year, this shows how domestic tourism remains immensely popular and in demand despite being during a pandemic. Friday recorded the highest crossing amount at around 16,000.

An increase in the number of people was accompanied by an increase in a number of vehicles. In the past 5 days, 462 voyages carried a total of 28,355 vehicles across the channel. iNews reported how there was a 7.1% increase in the number of people crossing from Cirkewwa whereas a 3.76% decrease was reported for Imgarr, Ghawdex. This points to people spending more than one day in Gozo.

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Photo Source: My Guide Malta

Hibernians send official protest to UEFA after ‘unacceptable behaviour’ from referees

Aug 16 2021

Yesterday local club Hibernians FC released a statement announcing that they have officially filed a complaint to UEFA “following the unacceptable behaviour of the refereeing team in last Thursday’s match against FC Riga.”

Following Thursday’s game, experienced defender Andrei Agius said “We know how much effort the team has put through in all our matches in the European competitions this year against Flora Tallinn, Folgore and FC Riga and we know that reaching the group stages of the Conference League was something that we could have managed but unfortunately things didn’t work out well for us and it hurts.” and “We showed that it’s possible for Maltese clubs to reach the group stages of the competition.”

The defender also cited that VAR is needed even in European matches that happen earlier and include smaller teams. Hibernians lost nearly €3 million arguably due to human error, something that wouldn’t have if VAR was available.

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