Ian Castaldi Paris reveals he will not contest upcoming election

Dec 20 2021

MP Ian Castaldi Paris revealed that he will be standing down at the next election following a Times of Malta report about a tax investigation uncovering that he holds undeclared wealth.

Paris took to Facebook, saying that he has come to the decision not to run the next general election as he wanted to priorities his family.

This comes just hours after the Times of Malta report exposing how the MP agreed to pay around €300,000 in taxes and penalties after a probe into his fiscal affairs found close to €1 million in previously undeclared income.

“Though I will be taking a step back from public life, this does not mean that I will no longer contribute to the Labour Party to take the country forward” he said.

Despite sources privy to the audit saying that the unexplained wealth hover around the 1 million mark, the MP insisted that the amount is significantly lower.

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Photo Source: Ian Castaldi Paris FB

Prime Minister Robert Abela puts pressure on Education Minister to resign

Dec 20 2021

Despite being reluctant to kick her out himself after a damning report by the Standards Commissioner, Prime Minister Robert Abela is placing pressure on Education Minister Justyne Caruana to resign.

‘Everyone should shoulder their own responsibility’ the Prime Minister told MaltaToday. When asked if retaining Caruana would put a blot on his government’s effort to promote good governance, he said that from day one as Prime Minister, he was clear on wanting everyone to shoulder their responsibilities.

MPs on the Ethics Committee decided to publish the report compiled by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler which found Caruana having breached ministerial ethics when she awarded a contract of service to footballer Daniel Bogdanovic.

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Photo Source: Justyne Caruana FB, Robert Abela FB

COVID-19 vaccination for children supported by paediatric association

Dec 20 2021

The paediatric lobby group has expressed its support of vaccinating children with the COVID-19 vaccine as ‘serious complications from the virus can occur in healthy kids’.

Despite virus complications being uncommon, the Maltese Paediatric Association released a statement backing the vaccination rollout for those aged five to 11.

The association said that ‘children respond well to the currently approved COVID-19 vaccine, which has been shown to be 90%. The vaccine has been shown to be safe when used in several million children in the USA.’

Kids between the ages of 5 and 11 began to receive the jab on the 14th December, with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine approved by the EMA last month. Two injections are given three weeks apart, with the jab being a third of the dose of that of adults for kids.

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Photo Source: Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials

Around 5000 people in quarantine Charmaine Gauci revealed

Dec 20 2021

Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci revealed in her segment ‘Ask Charmaine’ that around 5,000 people are currently quarantined due to COVID-19.

The number is set to rise, as Malta currently has 2190 active cases, with 252 registered in the last 24 hours. The number of people quarantined also includes those who came from dark red countries and are/or are not vaccinated.

Around 85% of those who tested positive are showing symptoms, with others showing mild symptoms or none whatsoever. In terms of the booster dose, it seems to show 90% effectiveness against the Omicron variant.

The newly registered variant, first found in South Africa, is expected to be the dominant strain by the start of next year. Malta currently has no cases of the variant, but it is only a matter of if and not when, revealed Health Minister Fearne last week.

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Photo Source: Charmaine Gauci FB