New quarantine rules come into effect today

Jan 3 2022

Given that authorities amended the pandemic quarantine rules, here you can find all the updates to the mandates.

For the vaccinated, people who test positive must self-isolate for 10 days, along with those who live with them in the same household.

If someone is a primary contact but does not live with the positive case, they are eligible for early release after seven days given that they go a rapid or PCR test result that indicates negative.

If one is a primary contact, does not live with the positive case but does not undergo a test, then one can be released after 10 days. If someone lives with someone who is a primary contact of another positive case, then they are eligible for exemption.

Those who are aged 5 to 17 and live with someone who is a primary contact of another positive case are only eligible for exemption if they are not symptomatic or have not become a primary contact of a confirmed case or tested positive.

For those who are unvaccinated, if one tests positive, they must isolate for 14 days. If you live in the same household as someone who tested positive, you must self-isolate for 14 days.

If one is a primary contact and does not live with the positive case, they must remain in quarantine for 14 days. If you live with someone who is a primary/secondary contact of another positive case, you must remain in quarantine for 14 days.

Someone is considered vaccinated if they are 18 or over and in possession of a valid vaccine certificate (date of booster must be 13 days or more prior to the release date). For those aged 5 to 17, they must be in possession of a valid vaccine certificate with two doses (date of second dose must be 14days or more prior to release.

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Watford refuse to release players to Africa Cup of Nations

Jan 3 2022

Watford have reportedly refused to release their two star players Ismaïla Sarr and Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis to represent their countries in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. This years AFCON will be hosted in Cameroon and the tournament will begin on the 9th of January, with the final being played on the 6th of February.

Senegal have accused Watford of refusing to release Ismaila Sarr for the Africa Cup of Nations.

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 2, 2022

Ismaïla Sarr plays for the Senegalese national team whilst Dennis for Nigeria. Nigeria have simply refused to respond and has now replaced the player, whilst Senegal have released a whole statement regarding one of their most influential player. They have accused Watford of providing “spurious” reasons and have also threatened the English club with getting FIFA involved.

Watford have also released their own statement about Sarr. They stated “Ismaïla Sarr suffered a knee ligament injury on 20 November in the match against Manchester United and has not been fit to play for Watford since,”. They went on to say “In early December, the club wrote to the Senegal Football Federation outlining the clinical diagnosis of Ismaïla’s injury and immediately followed that up by supplying the MRI scans detailing the extent of the injury. After further consultation with medical experts, we informed the federation of Ismaïla’s rehabilitation process and likely timeframe of recovery.”

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Calls for COVID self-testing kits by Nationalist Party

Jan 3 2022

The Nationalist Party has issued a call for regulated self-testing for COVID-19 in view of what seems to be a ‘breakdown’ in the testing and contact tracing system.

Given the massive spike in cases, the party said that the government needed to be transparent in its decision making. Apart from this, the Opposition stated that the government should also reveal which variant is currently dominant in Malta.

The party stated that the introduction of self-testing kids could ease the testing backlog caused by the government which, according to the Opposition, was due to a lack of planning.

This comes after many in the health authorities, including Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci, argued against self-testing kits.

The main argument was that people with no medical background would be more susceptible to making mistakes when trying to test for COVID-19.

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Mum gives birth to twins born in two different years in extremely rare case

Jan 3 2022

In a rare one to two million occurrence, two twins in California were born on different days, months, and years as 2022 came rolling in.

Little Aylin Yolanda and Alfredo Antonio Trujillo were born 15 minutes apart on New Year’s Eve. Alfredo came first at 11:45pm, followed closely by his sister just as the clock struck midnight.

The siblings were born at Natividad Medical Centre, with the establishment tweeting out: “At midnight, Natividad welcomed Aylin Yolanda Trujillo as the area’s first baby of 2022! Her twin, Alfredo Antonio Trujillo, was born 15 minutes earlier at 11:45 pm Friday, Dec. 31, meaning their birthday falls on a different day, month and year — a 1 in 2 million chance!”

The twins are the siblings of three older kids, with their parents Fatima Madrigal and Robert Trujillo expressing the bizarre circumstances of the birth.

Even Dr Ana Abril Arias, a family doctor at the establishment, described it as one of the most memorable deliveries of her career. ‘It was an absolute pleasure to help these little ones arrive safely in 2021 and 2022.’

According to Natividad, there are around 120,000 twin births in the US per year. This is already just 3% of births, with twins born on different birthdays being very rare, let alone on New Years Eve.

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