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Malta easing Covid-19 restrictions as vaccination rate soars

Malta will start a gradual easing of Covid-19 curbs this month, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Wednesday, as the country forges ahead with vaccinations at a much faster rate than elsewhere in the European Union. Abela told reporters schools would reopen on Monday and the government will consider reopening restaurants and non-essential shops on April 26. Masses will resume in churches on April 18. "Restrictions will be eased gradually, but children cannot afford to lose more of their education experience in the classroom," Abela said. Schools and restaurants on the small Mediterranean island were closed early in March following a spike in virus cases blamed on the so-called British variant. But a high of 510 new virus cases in a population of 500,000 on March 10 has declined to an average of 54 new cases daily in the past two weeks. Some 400 people have died of the virus to date. Abela said Malta planned to reopen its crucial tourism sector on June 1. "We will promote ourselves as one of the safest tourism destinations," he said. Health Minister Chris Fearne said 42 per cent of adults in Malta have now had at least one vaccine shot. According to latest Reuters data, no other EU state has come close to matching Malta's figures, with second-placed Hungary on 24 per cent. Malta is using a mix of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca shots and unlike many other EU countries, it exercised options to buy as many of the various jabs as it could. Fearne said that 95 per cent of those aged over 80 have now been vaccinated, along with 86 per cent of those aged over 70 and 78 per cent of those aged over 60. Some 86 per cent of teachers have also been vaccinated. With pressure on the health service decreasing, elective surgeries, which had been postponed, will now be resumed at the state hospital, Fearne said.

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Greece To Reopen Tourism on May 14 with No Discrimination

Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis confirmed in Parliament on Tuesday that Greek tourism will open on May 14 with complete safety as regards the coronavirus. He said the Greek plan has five lines of defense to receive foreign tourists without putting them or local residents in danger: These lines of defense concern tourists’ vaccination or negative test certificates, the EVA random checking system at borders and airports, quarantine hotels for the isolation of any visitors with the virus, the vaccination of tourism professionals – which will start immediately after the most vulnerable citizens have been inoculated – and strict adherence to health protocols. Theocharis went on to stress that the rules that apply to Greek citizens apply in their entirety, without exception, to visitors from abroad. “We make no discrimination,” he reiterated. The minister also stressed that there is no such thing as a “Covid-free” island, as it is only procedural reasons that have led to the blanket vaccination of residents on smaller islands. “The whole country is safe,” the minister stated.

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Indian Railways to start 4 Shatabdi trains, 1 Duronto special train from April 10: Check routes and schedule

Indian Railways is going to start four Shatabdi trains and one Duronto special train from April 10 for passengers. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in a tweet has said, dedicated in the service of passengers, 4 Shatabdi Special, and a Duronto Special Train are being started by the Indian Railways. These services will start from 10 April to 15 April, which will ensure convenient, and safe travel. Shatabdi Special Train route and schedule New Delhi - Amritsar (Daily) New Delhi - Amritsar (Weekly) Chandigarh - Delhi (6 Days a week) New Delhi - Daurai (Daily) Duranto Special Train route and schedule Sarai Rohilla, Delhi - Jammu Tawi (3 days in a week) On April 3, Goyal thanked Rail Parivaar for their dedication and stupendous efforts and Breaking almost all records in the COVID year. Piyush Goyal said while the world came to a standstill, Railwaymen never took a day off, and worked even harder at a great personal risk to keep the Wheels of the Economy moving. The Minister said "With your sheer willpower and resilience, we turned this crisis into an opportunity". 4,621 Shramik Specials were run to unite families and carry more than 63 lakh stranded citizens. Despite limitations during the lockdown, 370 major safety and infrastructure works were completed. Kisan Rail Services became the medium to connect our ‘Annadatas’ directly with bigger markets. You, through your service, made this possible and in turn touched the hearts and lives of lakhs of people. It is a matter of immense pride for me that Railways, with its exemplary work, has spearheaded the economic recovery. 1,233 million tonnes of originating freight has been loaded, which is the best ever for any year. 6,015 RKM of Rail Electrification works has been achieved in the last Financial year. As they say, “Records are meant to be broken” and no one does it better than Indian Railways." The Minister further added that now, Railways has become a customer-centric and is taking numerous steps for improving its speed as well as operational efficiency. This is visible as the average speed of freight trains has almost doubled to 44 Kmph and punctuality of the passenger trains has been maintained at a level of 96%. There have been zero passenger fatalities and a drastic reduction in number of consequential train accidents in last 2 years.

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Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board launches campaign to promote tourism in state

The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has initiated a campaign to promote tourism through train advertisements. Under this campaign, a rail wrap and radio jingle are being publicised in various cities of India. Hoardings have also been installed in cities like Delhi and Mumbai to promote tourism. The tourism department has selected trains going to cities — Mumbai, Nashik, Bhopal, Jhansi, Agra, Delhi and Meerut. Initially, as part of the campaign, train wrapping was done for train running from Haridwar to Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak station. The campaign depicts Char Dhams (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath), Hemkund Sahib, state’s cultural costumes, folk songs, cuisines etc. These creatives are attracting devotees and tourists through interesting taglines. Similarly, to promote adventure-related activities in the state, a radio jingle is running in cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune and Dehradun which is being appreciated by the listeners. Tourism minister Satpal Maharj said, “We are all set to welcome devotees from all over the world as the Char Dham Yatra will commence in May. This campaign is a part of inviting devotees to the yatra and tourists to enjoy adventure activities in the state.” Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said, “Uttarakhand is fully prepared to welcome tourists. We are ready to provide all kinds of services to the tourists and following the Covid-19 guidelines. We hope to see positive results of this campaign in the near future.”

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Gujarat: RT-PCR negative test mandatory for anyone travelling to the state

Visitors to Gujarat will now have to produce their RT-PCR negative report on arrival. Reportedly, airlines have been directed to check for passengers’ reports at boarding points before they travel to Gujarat. Reportedly, it has been recorded that a number of passengers who visited the state over the past two days were made to provide their samples for testing before leaving the airport premises, as they arrived without a negative RT-PCR report. The state government has now made it mandatory for everyone travelling to Gujarat to show an RT-PCR negative report, which they have undergone within 72 hours of their travel. The Health Department of Gujarat has also issued a notification regarding the same, and stated that considering a large number of passengers would arrive at airport terminals and there is a chance of COVID-19 spread, all airlines have been directed to ask for a negative RT-PCR report of passengers before departure at origin. The notification also stated that without the said report, the passenger should not be allowed to enter Gujarat, or they will be required to undergo a self-paid test at the Gujarat airport and wait till they get their report. All airport and airline authorities have also been requested to sensitise all passengers regarding COVID-related protocols. Reports have it that airlines have been instructed to not just verify RT-PCR negative reports of passengers, but also to prepare passengers to get tested at the airport at their cost before leaving. It has been reported that over the past three to four days, some of the passengers that arrived in Gujarat without an RT-PCR negative report from various parts of the country were reluctant to get tested or pay for the tests.

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Qatar Airways to fly world’s first fully Covid vaccinated flight

Setting another record of sorts, Qatar Airways has taken to the skies the world’s first fully Covid-19 vaccinated flight. The QR 6421 flight departed from Hamad International Airport today carrying all vaccinated crew and passengers onboard. The crew demonstrated the highest standards of safety and hygiene onboard to the passengers including the world’s first ‘Zero Touch’ inflight entertainment technology. Qatar Airways operated the special service using the most technologically advanced and sustainable aircraft, Airbus A350-1000, which is part of the airline’s carbon offset environment sustainability programme. Commenting on the special flight, Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive of Qatar Airways Group said, “Today’s special flight demonstrates the next stage in the recovery of international travel is not far away. We are proud to continue leading the industry by operating the first flight with a fully vaccinated crew and passengers and providing a beacon of hope for the future of international aviation. With aviation being a critical economic driver both globally and here in the State of Qatar, we are thankful for the support we have received from our government and local health authorities to vaccinate our staff, with over 1,000 vaccinations being administered per day. “..... As the vaccine rollout begins to gather pace worldwide, Qatar Airways remains committed to being the airline passengers and travel partners can rely on, operating one of the largest global networks to provide the connectivity needed to reunite families and friends and support global trade.’’ Qatar Airways was the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star Covid-19 Airline Safety Rating by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax. This follows HIA’s recent success as the first and only airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating. Qatar Airways is the first airline in the Middle East to begin trials of the innovative new IATA Travel Pass ‘Digital Passport’ mobile app.

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