Repatriation flights for 250 quarantined Italians in the plans

Jul 18 2021

Malta is currently planning repatriation flights for 250 Italians who are being held in quarantine following their testing positive for COVID-19 or for having been in touch with infected persons. Italian news agency Ansa reported that apart the news, stating that the flights are expected in the coming days. Despite this, it is not known if anyone who is still COVID-19 positive will be allowed to leave.

Italian students quarantined in Malta racked up to 70, but the number has now reached 250. The closure of the schools was described by Ansa as having transformed an English learning stay in Malta into an uncontrolled holiday for thousands of European youths. This is because apart from Italian nationals, a number of German, Spanish and French students are also quarantined and expecting to be repatriated soon. The report states that students not in quarantine are free to do as they please.

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Photo Source: Air Malta

Unused area of Garden of Serenity to get a €500,000 regeneration project

Jul 18 2021

Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Minister Miriam Dalli unveiled the €500,000 regeneration project for Santa Lucija’s Garden of Serenity. The regeneration is set to include a Greek theatre and a pond which incorporates the Chinese principles of Feng Shui. The locality, which has been hard-hit by recent road works and controversies surrounding tree-cutting, will be seeing the unused part of this garden regenerated by Parks Malta.

Dalli stated that with the investment of half a million euro, the abandoned site will ‘offer families, children, youths and the elderly a space to unwind.’ The top and bottom pathways will be joined together to showcase the life cycle, with architectural structures designed to create connection between humans and nature. Santa Lucija Mayor Charmaine St John thanked Parks Malta and the Minister for the investment. She stated that she considers Santa Lucija as one of the green lungs for the south of Malta.

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Photo Source: Parks Malta FB, Miriam Dalli FB

Bernard Grech pitches PN as the modern choice seeking the middle road

Jul 18 2021

Closing off the last session of the week-long Nationalist Party general council, Bernard Grech described the Opposition Party as the modern choice for those who wish to seek a middle road on several issues. Grech stated that through trust, a middle of the road solution to several issues can be found without having to resort to any extremes.

He compared this with what he deemed Labour’s attempt to buy people’s silence. ‘Labour thinks it can buy everyone’ stated the Opposition leader. He also stated that [the PN] does not want to impose itself through a top-down approach like, according to Grech, Robert Abela’s Labour government.

Grech also welcomed critics as well as former Lovin Malta CEO Christian Peregin. He stated that as a journalist, Chris has criticised Grech and the party itself, encouraging him to keep his criticism as this is a sign of a healthy democracy. The PN, Grech stated, should be a tool for change. This change does not just concern who is in a Prime Minister or Minister position, but also in terms of what Malta’s upcoming generations will want to experience as a better life.

Among the issues he listed, he mentioned Malta’s recent grey-listing by the FATF and environmental degradation as being some of the issues which need a complete overhaul in terms of governance. His closing statement stated how the election should not be a choice between the lesser of two evils, but ‘a choice based on extraordinary conviction.’

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Photo Source: Bernard Grech

1 in 4 Maltese COVID patients still suffer long term symptoms

Jul 18 2021

Around a quarter of Maltese who contracted the COVID-19 virus have been reported to still suffer from symptoms four to five months after. The follow-up study also reported that around 22% of former patients stated they feel worse since the virus was contracted. While 77% of the random population sample felt the same as they did before they contracted the virus, a fourth of those who felt worse suffered from fatigue months after they healed. A total of 23% also reported shortness of breath.

Headaches were reported from a fifth of the patients, with 8.9% having suffered chest pain. Consultant cardiologist Caroline Magri described the figures as impressive. She also noted how 5.2% of 2,279 former COVID patients were hospitalised, a rate much higher than the rate of hospitalisation of influenza and other conditions. 0.7% of patients needed intubation and not just hospital admission.

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Photo Source: Healthline