Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1291181
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS THE Union of Professional Educators (UPE) will be issuing an industrial dispute over concerns for educator's health and safety regarding the impending reopen- ing of schools. Addressing a press conference, UPE CEO Graham Sansone said the union was concerned over the various issues, which primarily resolved around health and safety, social dialogue and the lack of facilities granted to the union. "The UPE has stated, time and time again, it is not viable for schools to open in the coming days due to high numbers of COVID-19 positive cases reported. We had also recommended for online lessons to be delivered across the board until COVID-19 positive cases decrease signif- icantly," he said. Both the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the Union of Professional Educators (UPE) have called for the gov- ernment to postpone the reopening of schools. On Tuesday, 38 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered, bringing the num- ber of active cases on the island to 678. Sansone said the risk of transmission was currently too high, thus putting their members at immediate unreasonable risk. "This concern was further confirmed by the minister of education as well as the prime minister himself in television in- terviews," he said. Sansone said that starting from 28 Sep- tember, the union will also be instructing its members to be increasingly vigilant of the guidelines issued by the Public Health Authorities. "Once a breach is noted by our mem- bers, the union is instructing its members to report the breach to the head of school and leave the classrooms setting with im- mediate effect. Our members will only be resuming to work as per schedule once the breach has been rectified," he said. Sansone said that the UPE is once again calling on the MEDE to exercise social di- alogue since the UPE has solutions for the above-mentioned crisis in hand. "There is confusion, fear, and everything in-between. We have had educators tell us that if the situation is not rectified, they are contemplating resigning from their place of work and leaving the pro- fessions. Which as we all know, with the limited number of teachers we have, would be bad for the education system." Commenting on the ongoing clash with the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), Sansone said that the UPE could not sit back and simply wait to take the lead from other unions, and instead needed to act to safeguard its own members. "The UPE isn't what it was in the past, we now have a variety of members across the entire education system. And we are obligated to raise the concerns from our members and to take action where we sit fit," he said. Sansone said that the union only raises issues after they are verified, and has done so in every case. UPE registers industrial dispute, says it's not viable for schools to open UPE CEO Graham Sansone (left) addressing the media yesterday AN 86-year-old man is Malta's 24th victim of coronavirus, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday evening. The man passed away at Mater Dei Hospital, after contracting the virus on 8 September. He was admitted to hospital on 17 September, and had underlying health conditions. Earlier, the Health Ministry said that 38 new cases of COVID-19 had been registered overnight. The ministry said that today's cas- es were still being investigated. From yesterday's cases, eight were family members of previously known cases, one case was a direct contact of another positive case, 15 were from the St Joseph home clus- ter, two were of work colleagues of previously known cases, two were from social gatherings with other positive cases and three were relat- ed to the entertainment industry. 34 more people have since recov- ered from the virus. The number of active cases now stands at 678. Since the start of the pandemic in March, 2,113 people have recov- ered from the virus and 23 patients have died. In the past 24 hours, 2,409 swab tests were carried out. With a grand total of 235,640 tests having been carried out so far on the island. 38 new cases of COVID-19 registered overnight 86-year-old man is Malta's 24th victim of coronavirus #KunResponsabbli Uża l-maskra Aħsel idejk Żomm id-distanza Imxi ma' dawn it-3 passi C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Full Page Advert Newspaper MLT&ENG 3 Steps COVID19 2020 Final.pdf 2 04/06/2020 08:33:10 EUROPEAN Council President Charles Michel has gone into quarantine after a security officer he was with tested positive for COVID-19. A spokesperson said he was in contact with the se- curity officer early last week, with Michel undergoing regular swabbing for the virus. Charles Michel was in Malta last week for a summit dealing with the migration crisis faced by Europe. He was in Malta between the 16 and 17 September. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Robert Ab- ela on an army helicopter which took them on a flight over the Maltese islands. While in Malta, Michel also visited the site where journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered outside her Bidnija home. MaltaToday is informed that the person who tested positive was not part of the delegation that accompa- nied Michel on his visit to Malta. "The President is tested regularly and tested nega- tive yesterday. Respecting Belgian rules, he has gone into quarantine as of today," Michel's spokesman Barend Leyts tweeted on Tuesday. Michel's quarantine means that an EU summit scheduled to happen on the 24 and 25 September will be postponed to 1 to 2 October. EU council president Charles Michel in quarantine after security officer tests positive for COVID-19