Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1298422
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 OCTOBER 2020 NEWS 71-year-old man is 44th victim of COVID-19 A 71-year-old man who died at Mater Dei Hospi- tal overnight is Malta's 44th victim of COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The case is somewhat of a mystery since the elderly man first tested positive for COVID-19 on 21 September but over the past few days tested negative despite still exhibiting symp- toms of the disease. Given the symptoms, the health authorities continued to consider this an active COVID-19 case, the ministry said. The man was first admitted to Mater Dei on 8 September and was suffering from other health conditions. MALTA has registered 93 new cases of COV- ID-19 over the past 24 hours, the Health Author- ities have announced. Information released by the Health Ministry on Facebook shows that there were 31 recov- eries, bringing the total of active cases to 881. Yesterday's cases are still being investigat- ed but from the cases discovered yesterday, 25 were family members of previously known cases, four were contacts of positive work col- leagues, two were a direct contact of other pos- itive cases and one was imported. 2,257 swabs were conducted in the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, with a grand total of 284,352 swabs having been conducted since the start of the pandemic. Malta has registered 3,937 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in March, in- cluding 44 deaths. 93 new cases of coronavirus, active cases reach 881 THE Environment and Resources Authority has issued an environmental permit allowing Infrastructure Malta to up- root trees in a Dingli street. The permit allows for the "pruning and uprooting of trees at new schemed road off Triq San Ġwann Bosco, Dingli." Among the trees set to be uprooted are two large carob trees aged over 300 years old. The permit was granted so that IM can construct a tar- mac road connecting two alleyways, a project that has been staunchly opposed by Moviment Graffitti, which argues that it will destroy cultivated land, protected trees and a nearby medieval chapel. "Residents, farmers and activists are opposing this dev- astating and meaningless development. They stopped the works from starting when IM suddenly popped up to start the works a couple of days ago," Graffitti said. Two weeks ago Graffitti activists teamed up with farmers and residents from Dingli to inhibit roadworks from start- ing, standing in front of machinery to stop any movement. "Requests were also made to the Minister for the Envi- ronment, the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, and the Minister for Culture to change these plans, and to issue an Emergency Conservation Order on this site of nat- ural, historical and agricultural value." "These requests are still awaiting a response," they said. ERA gives go-ahead for uprooting of Dingli carob trees CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The portfolio to be awarded to Dalli is unclear; one source suggest- ed she would have a very high profile in the Abela cabinet. Until Muscat's resignation in the wake of the Yorgen Fnech arrest, Dalli was considered to be a natural replacement for PM with her profile in Brussels reaching new heights. But the shock exit of Muscat in December 2019 opened a contest in which heavyweights Chris Fearne and the long-touted pretender Rob- ert Abela moved in to go head-to- head in the election. MaltaToday understands that Prime Minister Robert Abela per- sonally lobbied to convince Dalli to join him to be a senior figure in the run-up to next general election. Dalli's influence in the Cabinet could give Abela an ally, serving as counter-weight to the huge profile enjoyed by his former leadership rival, and deputy PM, Chris Fearne, the health minister who has shone throughout the COVID-19 pandem- ic. Dalli, 44, obtained 63,438 votes in the last European parliamentary elections in 2019. She has been an MEP since 2014, having previously served as One TV's first female ed- itor. A trailblaizer for carbon emis- sion rules, among her most notable contributions was her role in the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automative Sector, after the Volkswagen emis- sions scandal. Following the 2019 elections, Dal- li was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman Iratxe García. Miriam Dalli (centre) seen here with Prime Minister Robert Abela and his wife Lydia Miriam Dalli's portfolio still to be determined