Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1392413
3 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 JULY 2021 NEWS COVID closures get support from catering lobby THE association for catering establishments (ACE) has come out in support of new COV- ID-19 restrictions that closed Maltese borders to unvaccinat- ed adults or people without their double dose of the vaccine. ACE has called on the indus- try's employees to ensure they are also vaccinated. "Restau- ranteurs are urged to kindly en- courage their management and staff to heed the health minis- try's advice in getting vaccinat- ed also. An initiative between government and business com- munity should be launched to officially recognize business owners whose staff compliment are vaccinated in their majority, as a COVID-compliant estab- lishment." ACE said the sustainability of the hospitality sector, which employs a labour force of over 25,000 employees, was equal- ly as important as the needs of managing COVID-19 as best we can. "With reference to statements by third parties on the tour- ism ministry's focus on the UK tourist market being a 'poisoned chalice', it is important to keep in mind that this source mar- ket generated 650,000 tourists in 2019 – practically one fourth of the whole touristic presence," ACE said. Catering establishments sales were reignited by the introduc- tion of the first batch of govern- ment vouchers in 2020. Now with the highest vaccination rate across the EU, covering 79% of adults with both doses, ACE said those reluctant to get jabbed should assume their responsibil- ities. "They are doing so to the detriment of the business com- munity in general and their fel- low citizens as well," ACE said. COVID-19: Malta starts mobile vaccination centres Residents of Malta and Gozo not yet vaccinated can book appointment and present employment contract or utility bill as proof of residence PAUL COCKS RESIDENTS of Malta and Gozo who have not yet been vacci- nated can book an appointment with the health services for their COVID-19 vaccine as from 19 July onwards. The vaccination centres are: Malta: Gateway Hall, Universi- ty of Malta, Monday-Saturday, 8:30am-3pm; Gozo, Gozo Con- ference & Expo Centre, Mon- day-Friday, 8:30am-3pm. Children under 16 years of age who will be vaccinated without an appointment, must provide an identification doc- ument and be accompanied by one parent to give consent to the vaccination. A mobile unit for vaccination will be present in various local- ities according to a schedule yet to be published, to make the COVID-19 vaccine more accessible. Those who wish to be vacci- nated must present their iden- tity card, or other documenta- tion proving they are residents of Malta, such as a utility bill or employment contract. Brussels receives Malta's recovery and resilience plan NICOLE MEILAK THE European Commission has received Malta's official recov- ery and resilience plan, in a first step that will allow government to tap into the EU's €800 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). In its plan, Malta requested a total of €316.4 million in grants under the RRF. The plan covers six areas, including sustainable transport, circular economy, clean energy and energy-effi- ciency in buildings, digital trans- formation of the public admin- istration and the legal system, projects targeting the health and education sectors, as well as in- stitutional reforms. Before the grants can be dis- bursed, the Commission must assess Malta's plan in accord- ance with the eleven criteria set out in the Regulation. It will also review whether the plan present- ed addresses all or a significant subset of challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations. It will also assess whether the plan dedicates at least 37% of expenditure to climate-friendly investments, and 20% of expend- iture to the digital transition. According to Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, who spoke on the re- covery plan in parliament earlier this month, said that almost half of the plan will be dedicated to the environmental sector, while around 26% will contribute to the digitalisation of services in Malta. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Giving a breakdown of this week's new cas- es, health minister Chris Fearne (pictured, above) said only 15% of active cases are Mal- tese citizens, with the majority being foreign- ers. "The Indian variant (Delta) is in the commu- nity," he said. "Vaccines are the best protec- tion against the variant." Active cases have shot up to 782 after 154 new cases were recorded on Tuesday from 3,353 swab tests. 154 new COVID cases were registered on Tuesday. 3,353 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs to 1,021,801. No deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. Until Monday, 709,131 vaccine doses were administered, of which 373,349 were a first dose. 351,395 people are fully vaccinated. Fearne said the majority of active cases are under 30s. Fearne also said that there are currently sev- en patients in hospital, but only one is in the ITU. He was not vaccinated. 22 Delta variants have been detected, but the figure does not take in consideration recent cases due to the genome sequencing, which takes a number of days to be carried out. The minister said that 84% of the adult pop- ulation has received the first vaccine dose, while 80% are fully vaccinated. The breakdown of the vaccines is as follows: Pfizer/BioNTech (60% of all vaccines adminis- tered), AstraZeneca (25%), Moderna (8%) and Johnson & Johnson (7%). He also said that as of next Monday, walk-in vaccination clinics around Malta, and a mo- bile clinic will be open to the public. Anyone without an appointment can get the jab. After the health minister announced new re- strictions last Friday, he said that a legal no- tice would be published in the coming hours. Fearne defended the decision, which sparked criticism from the European Commission for being "discriminatory" towards unvaccinated citizens. Fearne said that while the majority of citizens are vaccinated, it was important to ensure that anyone entering Malta is similarly protected. 154 new cases, Fearne warns of Delta variant