Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1243341
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2020 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS maltatoday One-month special delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspaper per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Distributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Air- port Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other newspapers and magazines, contact production@millermalta.com home delivery maltatoday TRIED, TESTED & LOVED Your local rental partner. Since 1969. e. renting@franksalt.com.mt | w. franksalt.com.mt/renting L E T T I N G L E T T I N G #STAYSAFE SUNDAY • 12 APRIL 2020 • ISSUE 1067 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.95 maltatoday PGS 2-3 Malta tells EU traffickers are 'using' NGO to ferry migrants MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S foreign and home affairs ministers yesterday met the ambassadors of France and Spain, explaining to them that it was "impos- sible for Malta" to rescue boat migrants and asylum seekers being transported out at sea by traffickers in Libya. Evairst Bartolo and Byron Camileri told the ambassadors that the COVID-19 pandemic had put the Maltese islands under pressure in terms of law enforcement. "The resources and space in migrant reception centres are limited, and the arrivals of more mi- grants will imperil the migrants living in these centres," they said in a statement to the press. The ministers said that Spain had closed its ports and borders, much as Malta had done af- ter Italy announced its closure of ports to mi- grant rescue charities. "Human trafficking has increased since Sun- day after the German-flagged boat operated by Sea-Eye 'promoted' its operations at sea to take in rescued migrants to Europe," the ministers said, adding that human traffickers in Libya had taken the cue to ferry the asylum seekers out at sea to be picked up by the 'Alan Kurdi' vessel. The ministers said the traffickers were ex- ploiting the Libyan instability, and that the EU had to intervene to disrupt this business model. Bartolo also spoke to the EU's external rela- tions commissioner Josep Borell yesterday, say- ing that unless Libya is aided, human traffickers will keep imperiling the lives of migrants they ferry out to sea. STAY IN, STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 Raphael Vella: Home is where the art is INTERVIEW MT 2 Never before has your support of free and independent journalism been so crucial SUBSCRIBE maltatoday.com.mt/maltatodaydigitaledition Pilots were 'guaranteed pay' in 2016 side-letter AIR Malta pilots were given a signed guarantee by the Labour government that they would be kept on a state payroll with their same take-home pay, in the absence of a volun- tary retirement scheme should their jobs be terminated. The side-letter of 18 August 2016 was an agreement forced by the threat of a strike by Malta's pilots, in which then-tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis had to placate pilots in a bid to increase their flying hours. The agreement states that the government "is giving all Air Malta pilots in Malta a guarantee of work, and will actively consid- er a voluntary early retirement scheme to 'right-size' [the air- line] that would be acceptable to all parties, including ALPA… the government is guaranteeing pilots that they will continue receiving a 'take home pay' of their choice according to either years 2014, 2015 or 2016." PAGE 4 Robert Abela gets 62% 'pandemic' trust rating, while PN gets Gozo boost mt survey Eek! With humans at home, pests mount return 9 Foodie frontliners: wine and fine dining 10-11 and takeaway armies 16 MALTATODAY SURVEY PAGES 14-15 Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday Sat Sunday MaltaToday Midweek €1 n/a MaltaToday on Sunday €1.95 BusinessToday €1.50 n/a ILLUM €1.25 The Malta Independent €1 €1 The Malta Independent on Sunday €1.95 Times of Malta €1 €1 Sunday Times of Malta €1.95 In-Nazzjon €1 €1 Il-Mument €1.20 l-Orizzont €1 €1 It-Torca €1.50 Daily Mail €2.40 €2.40 Mail on Sunday €3.30 Daily Mirror €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Mirror €2.70 The Sun €2.50 €2.50 Sun on Sunday €2.50 Daily Express €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Express €3.30 Daily Star €2.20 €2.20 Sunday Star €2.50 Daily Telegraph €4.50 €5.00 Sunday Telegraph €5.70 The Times €4.50 €5.00 The Sunday Times €5.70 Financial Times €3.70 €4.50 People €2.70 The Guardian €3.90 €4.60 The Observer €4.90 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr MATTHEW AGIUS MALTA yesterday registered just one new COVID-19 case from a total of over 900 tests carried out over the past 24 hours, Public Health Superin- tendent Prof. Charmaine Gauci said. The case hails from the Hal Far tent village for migrants that has been quarantined. At a briefing on Saturday, Prof. Gauci said that 12 more people had fully recovered from the virus, with Malta now having 85 active cases. Malta has now carried out 35,117 coronavirus tests. On Friday, 944 tests were car- ried out, from which just one positive result was obtained. This brings the total number of positives cases to 468. With an- other 12 persons having recov- ered, the total number of active cases is now down to 85. The positive case, a Sudanese man aged 27, was detected in Hal Far tent village as part of a screening programme. A total of 50 cases have been reported from Hal Far so far. The health authorities are working with the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers to test mi- grants in groups so as to avoid unnecessary detention. Prof. Gauci stated that over 15,000 persons had used the online COVID-19 symptom checker and that 1,700 persons had checked for other peo- ple. This tool was allowing the gathering of anonymous sta- tistics on the symptoms in the community, she said. Ongoing vigilance required Malta was now in a "transi- tion phase" due to the stable number of cases and rate of transmission being below 1, but Prof. Gauci warned against complacency. "We cannot lose all the hard work we've done so far," she said as she appealed to people to remain vigilant. As from Monday, she said that retail outlets will be opened, for some non-essential items – clothes shops, florists and the like would be allowed to open, albeit with certain conditions. Travel between Malta and Gozo was now open to all ex- cept vulnerable persons, Prof. Gauci said. "The virus is still out there. The principles of caution and social distancing remain. It is important that people wear face masks in shops." Prof. Gauci said that if any- one had missed vaccinations for their children, now was the time to come forward with op- erations resuming Monday. The majority of COVID-19 cases in Malta have not re- quired hospitalisation, and most cases were young people who had stayed at home. Asked by MaltaToday wheth- Face masks and social distancing remain in force despite encouraging figures