The Chamber of Pharmacists has harshly criticised the behaviour of people who went on picnics on Thursday – a public holiday – disregarding calls to stay indoors.
It was reacting to a story on The Malta Independent portal in which we reported that many people had defied instructions given by the health authorities, and instead went out in groups for picnics.
The current Covid-19 crisis is encouraging businesses everywhere to think outside the box, and popular local cooking school the Mediterranean Culinary Academy has taken that sentiment to a completely new level with the launch of its recipe box.
Delivered weekly (with contactless delivery available), the MCA recipe box contains everything a household needs to make three fresh, healthy and seasonal dishes in the comfort of their own home.
A wide spread of Coronavirus across the Maltese population may have an effect on the make-up of Malta’s age demographic due to the fact that the death rates seen abroad for those who contract the disease is especially high for those who are over 80 years of age, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent.
As the novel virus continues its spread across the world, it is becoming clearer that it may have an effect on most, if not all, parts of a country’s characteristics. One such area which may be affected is a country’s – and indeed the world’s – demography both in terms of population make-up and population movement.
Charles Mallia Azzopardi, who is managing the Coronavirus procedures at the Infectious Disease Unit (IDU), told The Malta Independent that he firmly believes that there was nothing more that could have been done to prepare Malta for the Coronivirus pandemic that has taken over the world since the end of last year.
Nearly two weeks ago, Malta experienced its first case of a ‘COVID-19 positive’ patient and since then the number has been on the increase, with 53 cases being confirmed as of Thursday. Thankfully, two have already recovered but the others are still being kept in isolation at Mater Dei, within the IDU.
The European Central Bank is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy.
The ECB said it could buy up to 750 billion euros ($820 billion) in government and private sector bonds as well as commercial paper by year end.
Whilst the government has budgeted an additional €35 million for the healthcare sector, Steward Health Care is being given more than double that amount this year, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said.
"Steward Health Care is being given €70 million and Steward is not providing any form of return. Now is the time to provide all we can to our health care system. The government should increase the amount it spends on our health. This needs to be the biggest investment."
