Interview - Miriam Calleja Shaw

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You have recently published a book called COVID-19and the Virus that Shook the World . It provides a sobering look at virus infections and pandemics, with particular emphasis on the COVID-19 strain. Presently, the cases have diminished in Europe but the spread has moved elsewhere. However, how safe is ‘safe’ at the moment? With the way things are evolving with the ’new’ coronavirus, it’s very difficult to answer this question. The WHO just last weekend warned that the worst may be yet to come. We are certainly witnessing an atrocious amount of deaths and illness in the US. We don’t yet know with certainty which factors are affecting the progression of the pandemic. Indeed we don’t even know about all the symptoms that appear with COVID-19 infection. The relative ‘safety’ is different for everyone, depending on the state of their immunity and certain other factors. For a person with average health who isn’t too old, the danger of getting severely ill may be low – but we need to ...
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Ktieb b'xejn mingħand Ġorġ Mallia

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Ġorġ Mallia huwa magħruf għall-kitba, l-illustrazzjonijiet, il-komiks u, dan l-aħħar, minħabba l-wirja Rhapsody in Pain. Jiena nafu bħala s-Sur Mallia għaliex daqs 35 sena ilu (!) kien jgħallimni l-Ingliż u l-Arti. Ftit tas-snin wara kellu jerġa' jsibni ma' wiċċu, din id-darba bħala student l-Università.

 Minn żmien l-iskola niftakar is-self qalil tal-komiks. Jien kont qarrej ossessjonat tal-Beano u d-Dandy, u meta darba waħda s-Sur Mallia kien rani b'wieħed minnhom f'idi, qalli li hu kellu eluf ta' komiks. M'emmintux. Imbagħad beda jgħidli dwarhom, kif u meta xtrahom, il-favoriti tiegħu, kemm il-darba kien qrahom. Ix-xettiċiżmu tiegħi dab għalkollox.

 Ftit tas-snin wara beda jħarriġni għall-eżami tal-Matrikola. Niftakarni nieħu ħafna pjaċir waqt il-lezzjonijiet ta' Lord of the Flies u Wilfred Owen. (Xi mkien xi darba, kien hemm Animal Farm ukoll.) Apparti minn hekk, ġieli konna noqogħdu niddiskutu miegħu l-films: The War of the Worlds, Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam. Bħala għalliem is-Sur Mallia kien jagħtina ħafna, jirrispetta l-opinjoni tagħna u jinkoraġġiha; qatt ma trattana ta' tfal defiċjenti. Ta' dan konna nirrispettawh.

 Illum il-ġenerożità ta' Ġorġ ġiet espressa mod ieħor. Tana rigal. Ħareġ ktieb jismu L-Avventura msaħħra ta' Melanie u Karl u jinsab b'xejn minn fuq is-SIT TIEGĦU:

 L-iskejjel ta' Malta u Għawdex ingħalqu kollha minħabba l-imxija ta' virus ikrah li qed jinfetta l-pajjiżi kollha tad-dinja. Melanie u Karl ukoll jispiċċaw maqfulin id-dar mal-ġenituri tagħhom, ma jafux x'se jaqbdu jagħmlu b'ħinhom...

Grazzi Ġorġ!

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