Malta hits the 1000 active COVID-19 cases mark

Nov 25 2021

Malta has once again hit the 1000 active COVID-19 case mark, registering 1007 active cases following 83 new cases being found in the past 24 hours. This despite the almost fully immunised population, with the booster programme well on its way.

Health authorities revealed that due to the vaccine rollout being a success, the focus could be shifted onto hospitalisations and deaths instead of the total number of cases. This means that restrictions will be eased or increased depending on how many people are hospitalised or lose their life to COVID. 2 men died of the virus in the past 24 hours.

The last time there were more than 1,000 cases was the 7th of August at 1,058 cases. 13 patients are currently being treated at Mater Dei, with 2 in the ITU. Till yesterday, 939,732 doses of the vaccine were administer, with 104,989 of these being booster doses.

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Photo Source: Chris Fearne FB, Sahha FB, Wikipedia

Graduation bus-cade turns into satirical political commentary

Nov 25 2021

As many celebrate their long awaited graduation following a pandemic of patience, a bus-cade session by the Law graduates turned into a jab at Malta’s political climate. The buses used for the tradition of roaming around Malta in celebration of successful studying donned banners all making satires out of Malta’s politicians and context.

The banners commented, with rhyme, on how people can get out of a pickle by calling a lawyer or how they can use Ian Borg’s flyovers to zoom in celebration.

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Some were also a bit more mild in terms of satire, depicting Health Minister Chris Fearne and stating how due to be left without a toga last year, graduates can now celebrate with double the festive fever. But all these banners raise some serious questions – has Malta’s political context become an absolute source for mocking and jokes? Should this celebration make us reflect deeper into the state of things?

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AFM helicopter rescues woman and Civil Protection officers from flooding

Nov 25 2021

After an elderly woman was stuck in her car after it got stuck due to flooding in Burmarrad, an AFM helicopter was called in to help.

The woman was first met with assistance by the Civil Protection Department but due to the heavy storm, they too ended up experiencing trouble getting out from the situation.

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An AFM helicopter was thus called in to help rescue both the victim and the Civil Protection Department officials. All three people were successfully rescued.

A massive well done to all those involved in the rescue. The storm which rolled over the Maltese islands this morning prompted many on the roads to help others struggling on the road.

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Photo Source: Matthew Seychell

Germany surpasses 100,000 COVID deaths as pandemic worsens worldwide

Nov 25 2021

As the amount of infections spikes considerably in Europe, Germany has become the latest country to record 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Germany’s disease control agency reported 351 deaths in the past 24 hours due to COVID-19, bringing up the tragic tally to 100,119. This makes Germany the fifth country in the EU to pass that 100,000 mark, after Russia (263K), the UK (144K), Italy (133K) and France (121K).

There are currently 259M total cases worldwide, with 5.17 million deaths reported since the start of the pandemic. An additional 8,532 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. The country leading the charge in terms of deaths is the US at a whopping 776K deaths. India tallied 467K deaths in second place, followed by Brazil at 613K deaths. The aforementioned UK and Russia place 4th and 5th. In order to address this devastating epidemiological situation, many countries have started to reintroduce several health measures which were relaxed just a few months ago.

Italy is the latest country to do so, deciding to exclude anyone who is unvaccinated from certain activities. Starting December 6th, only vaccinated people or those recovered from the virus will be able to eat at indoor restaurants, go to sport events, etc. This follows other countries moving to take such measures, with Austria going so far as to make vaccination mandatory as of February of next year. Italy will be following such footsteps, making the jab mandatory for all school employees, law enforcement and military.

Malta has so far registered 464 total deaths ever since the pandemic started. Malta also managed to keep one of the lowest death rates per million for the past few weeks, largely due to the successful vaccine rollout.

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Photo Source: The New Indian Express