Worker who lost finger in workplace accident compensated €81,000

Jan 26 2022

A Maltese worker who lost a finger in a workplace accident has been compensated a whopping €81,000.

With the judgement issued earlier today by Judge Lawrence Mintoff, he decreed that the company was 85% responsible for the incident.

The accident goes back to the 16th of April 2015, with the court case itself having started back in April 2018. Plaintiff Lawrence Camilleri was injured whilst working on site, losing a finger in the process.

The court today, 26th January 2022, ruled that the company must pay adequate compensation to Camilleri, calculated according to his salary and extent of injuries. Charlene Grima and Carina Nagiah represented Camilleri as his lawyers.

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Photo Source: Kamra tal-Periti

New research reveals why we’re having less sex than ever

Jan 26 2022

Apparently, people are not having as much sex as they used to, with several studies attempting to nail down exactly why this is. Is it social media overuse? Or are we just not bothered?According to the UK’s National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL), people are having less sex every week. Back in 1991, it was an average of five times per month but in 2001, it dropped to four and down to three by 2012.

Academic director for NATSAL at University College London Soazig Clifton said that Brits are definitely having less sex. However, this seems to be an international trend as other studies are suggesting the same. The US confirmed the decline in sexual activity, with the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behaviour comparing more than 8500 individual’s responses from 2009 and 2018.

The proportion of adolescents reporting no sexual activity during this period rose from 28.8% to 44.2% among young men and from 49.% to 74% among young women. Despite this not easily answering ‘why’ this is the case, some reasons can be drawn out. Some researchers are suggesting that people are spending much more time virtually rather than having sex with the person next to them.

Some theorise that we’re just busier than ever – whether is social lives, poorer work-life balance or juggling social media commitments, people are just too tired to have sex. Others suggest that sex becoming less taboo in everyday conversation may have also balanced out statistics. People may be more prone to telling researchers they’re not having sex, meaning a more understanding society about sex has developed.

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Carmen Ciantar’s daughter also on Health Minister’s payroll

Jan 26 2022

According to news portal ‘The Shift News’, daughter of Carmen Ciantar, Celine Camilleri Ciantar, serves on the Treatment Abroad Committee. This decides which patients require medical treatment or serious intervention outside of Malta.

Having just graduated as a dentist two years ago, it is still unclear what kind of remuneration Camilleri Ciantar receives from her committee position. Carmen Ciantar is currently facing backlash over a €163,000 a year contract as Foundation for Medical Services CEO salary. The National Audit Office describes this as ‘irregular.’

She also earns an extra government pay while serving on the Malta Gaming Authority’s board of governors. She also serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne’s chief of staff. She does not receive a salary for that role.

Brian St John, one of her predecessors, had an €80,000 contract, which is roughly half the amount paid to Ciantar. Ciantar herself has asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate, with the Nationalist Party calling on the contract to be scrapped.

Fearne himself said that the contract will be revised in 2024, with Prime Minister Robert Abela insisting that the contract was before his tenure.

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EU countries planning to simplify travel with COVID certificates

Jan 26 2022

Under new rules for travel, prospective voyagers will be able to travel all throughout the EU with proof of vaccination, recovery, or a negative test and not face quarantine of additional testing. News portal Politico confirmed that ministers backed the Council recommendations at a meeting of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday.

The aim of this is to take into account the advantage of the individual situation of people, especially those vaccinated, and limit for them as much as possible travel restrictions in Europe. This was stated ahead of the meeting by France’s European Affairs Secretary Clement Beaune. Travellers will be able to freely enter a country if they have had their first series of jabs a maximum of 270 days ago or if they received their booster.

This would also apply to people who recovered from COVID in the last 180 days, and passengers who have had a PCR test 72 hours before arriving or an antigen 24 hours before. One exception will be countries in the dark red category of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Currently, most of the EU falls in this category.

This new framework will enter force on the 1st of February along with a nine-month duration period of vaccination certificates following a primary course of jabs. The new measures also modify the ECDC’s existing map which currently serves as the basis for travel restrictions. Under these new metrics, the map will also take into account vaccination rates when weighing new cases.

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