Special Bus Service for Notte Bianca announced

Sep 29 2022

With thousands expected to make their way to Valletta on 1st October 2022 for this year’s edition of Notte Bianca, Malta Public Transport will be operating a Special Service to facilitate travel for people visiting this evening of celebration of art and culture in the Capital.

The special service will also coincide with the launch of free public transport for all those who have a valid personalised Tallinja Card.

Routes going towards Valletta will be run more frequently from 16:30hrs to cater for the expected high volume of passengers. Passengers can also take Route 133 along the Valletta ring-road, which will operate with extended hours between 17:00hrs and 00:00hrs.

On their way back people can avail themselves from the Marsa Addolorata Park & Ride that departs from Valletta Bay A1 to Marsa happening every 30 minutes from 23:00hrs till 01:00hrs. Similarly, the Pembroke Park & Ride departures from Valletta Bay A15 will take place every 30 minutes from 23:00hrs till 01:00hrs.

Furthermore, Special Service routes will depart from Valletta Terminus as follows:

· Route S10 will depart from Valletta Bay A2 every 30 minutes from 23:00hrs till 01:30hrs

· Route S50 will depart from Valletta Bay A3 every 20 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:00hrs to 01:30hrs

· Route S60 will depart from Valletta Bay A4 every 20 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:00hrs to 01:30hrs

· Route S70 will depart from Valletta Bay A5 every 20 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:00hrs to 01:30hrs

· Route S80 will depart from Valletta Bay A6 every 15 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:15hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:15hrs to 01:45hrs

· Route S90 will depart from Valletta Bay A7 every 15 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:15hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:15hrs to 01:45hrs

· Route S20 will depart from Valletta Bay A8 every 30 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 20 minutes from 00:00hrs to 01:40hrs

· Route S30 will depart from Valletta Bay A9 every 15 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 20 minutes from 01:00hrs to 02:00hrs

· Route S40 will depart from Valletta Bay A10 every 20 minutes from 23:00hrs till 01:00hrs with the last trip being at 01:30hrs

· Route S41 will depart from Valletta Bay A11 every 15 minutes from 23:00hrs till 00:00hrs and every 30 minutes from 00:00hrs to 01:30hrs

· Route N13 will have departures from Valletta Bays A12 and A13 as per normal scheduled with extra trips allocated depending on public demand on the night.

· Route S212 will depart from Valletta Bay A14 every 30 minutes from 23:00hrs till 01:00hrs with extra trips allocated depending on public demand on the night.

For further convenience and safety additional buses, drivers and engineers will be present to be deployed as needed.

Malta Public Transport would like to remind the public that in order to benefit from free public transport from 1st October onwards, passengers are required to own a valid personalised Tallinja Card and tap it against the ticket machine every time they board the bus. Passengers without Tallinja Cards will need to purchase their ticket on board the bus.

For more information, including details of bus routes and FAQs on the free public transport scheme, once can visit here or call on 2122 2000.

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UK MPs might introduce four-day work week: still off the table for Malta

Sep 29 2022

UK Labour MPs are tabling a bill which advocates for the four-day working week, arguing that Brits work some of the longest hours in Europe.

Peter Dowd, MP for Bootle in Merseyside, argued for working hours to be reduced from 40 to 32, with parliamentary time for bill discussion secured for next month.

‘In numerous examples across the world the four-day week with no loss of pay has been shown to boost productivity and the well-being of workers’ said Dowd.

This comes after a four-day work week trial run by non-profit 4 Day Week Global alongside Autonomy think thank and various university researchers. 9 in 10 companies reported positive work experiences when applying the concept.

With almost all companies participating reporting successful outcomes and some even an increase in profits, it begs the question: when will Malta attempt the work week.

Well, the four day work week was proposed on the island for the 2022 budget. However, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that Malta is not ready until workers have improved productivity substantially.

The four days week was nonetheless proposed by the Opposition in the electoral manifesto ahead of the March 26 election.

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Study reports slight increase in menstrual cycle after COVID jab

Sep 29 2022

A large international study published by the British Medical Journal reports an average increase in menstrual cycle length of less than one day.

The increase was not associated with any change in the number of ays of menses (days of bleeding). Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study included data from around 20,000 people from the US, UK, Europe, Canada and other parts of the world.

Alison Edelman, M.D.,M.P.H., of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, was principal investigator and found the the increase resolved in the cycle following vaccination.

A change in cycle length of less than eight days in considered within the normal range of variation. Although small menstrual changes may not be meaningful to health care professionals, the study authors said that any changes in bodily function linked to fertility may be alarming to those experiencing it.

This could lead to vaccine hesitancy, the authors relayed. Researchers analysed data from the fertility tracking app Natural Cycles.

A total of 19,622 individuals participated, with 14,936 being vaccinated and 4,686 unvaccinated. Data on at least 3 consecutive cycles before vaccination and at least one cycle after.

On average, vaccinated people experienced an increase of less than one day in each cycle. Those who had both doses in a single cycle had a 3.91 day increase in cycle length. After vaccination, cycle length increased by 0.2 days for 1 dose per cycle and 0.85 days for 2 doses in 1 cycle.

Of the total, 1,342 participants experienced a change in cycle length of 8 or more days, comprising 6.2% of vaccinated and 5.0% of unvaccinated individuals.

In conclusion, ‘Covid-19 vaccination is associated with a small and likely to be temporary change in menstrual cycle length but no change in menses length.’

Links to full studies here and here.

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Back to School at St Albert: What went down on day 1

Sep 29 2022

With the reopening of St Albert the Great College following the recent controversy surrounding former head Mario Mallia, an email sent to the Secretariat for Catholic Education by the MUT President revealed what went down during the first day of school.

According to sources, the situation ‘is other than normal and very different from the impression that was provided publicly by the rector.’

Sources revealed various issues which had to be addressed by not just the MUT members themselves but assistant heads, teachers, LSEs and other personnel.

‘It is thanks to their efforts and in the best interest of their students that the school could function.’ Among the issues is the lack of considerable number of personnel.

New faces are reportedly seen roaming around, with no information to personnel as to whether they underwent a selection process or were handpicked to work at the school. ‘The MUT questions whether these were engaged through the normal selection process, whether there is approval for their post, and whether they passed all checks and balances required for such posts.’

The school was also using the draft secondary timetable which was prepared and provided by previous head Mr Mario Mallia and assistant heads back in July. Thus, the MUT report that claims that members refrained from passing data to the school is unfounded and does not justify the delayed opening.

‘The timetable is clearly not finalised, with problems in room allocations and student allocations. There were problems with replacements with classes unsupervised whilst the supervision roster was unavailable and had to be done by our members.’

Outings logistics and transport arrangements had to also be done by MUT, with teachers getting excessive loads and schemes in breach of agreements. LSEs also were assigned to students without respect to their personal statements.

The situation is reportedly just as bad in the primary school, where timetables for specialised subjects were unavailable and had to be done by other teachers. Supervisions were unavailable and had to be worked out by LSEs and teachers. Furthermore, all programmes running for students in the past years have been scrapped.

The MUT stated that had they not stepped up to assist and address serious shortcomings, the students would have suffered.

#MaltaDaily