Murder suspect Abner Aquilina has been discharged from Mount Carmel

Jan 12 2022

The lead suspect in the Sliema murder case which took the life of 29-year-old Polish woman Paulina Dembska has been discharged from state mental health hospital Mount Carmel.

Abner Aquilina will be continuing his police interrogation but it is not yet known what staff at Mount Carmel have concluded about his mental health.

He is however cleared to continue being questioned by the police. They are expected to charge Aquilina in the coming days with the murder of Dembska and they have 48 hours to charge him in court or release him on police bail.

The autopsy confirmed that Dembska was raped and strangled, suffering head injuries and marks on her neck which indicated suffocation.

Police have also determined it was a random killing and there were no ties between Aquilina and the victim. Interrogations were paused after psychiatric experts were called in to assess whether he was fit to continue facing investigator’s questions when doubts started to be raised about his mental state.

Aquilina had told police that he was God’s work but the devil had entered his thoughts when the attack happened. This is a developing story…

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Fate of Air Malta to be revealed in next few days; Minister to meet unions amid financial concerns

Jan 12 2022

Sources have revealed that within the next few days, a number of important developments will be made with regards to Malta’s national airline Air Malta. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is expected to meet with various union representatives over the next few days.

As of yet, it unknown whether or not the European Union has given permission to the Maltese Government to give subsidies to Air Malta. Further details are expected to be given during the upcoming meeting. Minister Caruana had revealed that Air Malta was losing €170,000 each single day and State Aid was necessary to keep up its operations.

Caruana had stated that Air Malta was expected to lose €30 million in 2022 and if the European Commission does not grant permission for State Aid, Air Malta could not go on. The future of the national airline will be determined in the next few days.

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More than 67% of over-18s received their booster shot says Chris Fearne

Jan 12 2022

More than two-thirds of the adult population in Malta have received their COVID booster shot, Health Minister Chris Fearne revealed.

This translates to around 67% of those aged over 18, with the health minister appealing to the rest of the population who is eligible to register for the vaccine.

Following the Omicron variant’s emergence leading to a spike in cases, Malta’s health authorities are trying to vaccinate as much of the population as possible. Children aged between 5 and 11 are also now eligible to receive their COVID shots, joining the rollout.

Two thirds (67%) of adults over 18 years resident in #Malta have now received a #booster dose against Covid19. Register at https://t.co/xDyYSLM0tY to receive yours. #BeBoosted pic.twitter.com/0bmB8uS6JN

— Chris Fearne (@chrisfearne) January 12, 2022

Till yesterday, 1,146,466 doses of the vaccine were administered, of which 288,561 were booster shots. This comes as Malta registers 13,104 active cases and 496 total deaths since the pandemic started.

However, hospitalisations remain remarkably low at 116, with just 9 people in ITU. Fearne also announced on Monday that Malta had the fourth-highest booster rate among EU members.

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Companies are cutting operations due to COVID absents warn employers

Jan 12 2022

The Malta Employer’s Association said on Wednesday that companies are finding it difficult to cope with a surge in worker absenteeism caused by COVID related issues.

A survey conducted among MEA members showed that 32% of 325 respondents reported an absence rate higher than 15%. 58% of respondents said they are coping with absenteeism through teleworking where possible, whereas 51% said they had to reduce operations.

With the survey covering companies operating in all sectors of the company, this comes as vids cases experienced a massive spike in the past weeks. This forced many workers into quarantine or self-isolation after they were either infected or in close-contact with positive cases. Estimates show that tens of thousands of people have been forced to quarantine.

With quarantine rules modified to allow people who received the booster to return to normal life after 10 days instead of 14, lobbyists and unions are still pushing for rules to be relaxed even more. They cite overseas examples and warned that the new rules will spark more confusion.

MEA said that disrupting business’ activity would lead to a negative impact on GDP growth and government finances given the wage supplement being extended to at least the first quarter of 2022. The association also urged authorities to constantly re-examine the measures to ensure that they are commensurate with the risk level of the pandemic.

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