President George Vella has forfeited one month’s salary and freed up his chefs to cook up meals for healthcare workers at Mater Dei Hospital, to help authorities in their fight against coronavirus. 

Staff at San Anton Palace’s kitchen have been cooking meals and sending them to the national hospital, in a gesture of solidarity with coronavirus frontliners by the Office of the President. 

Many of those doctors and nurses are working long hours to treat patients and do their utmost to limit the harmful effects of the pandemic. 

San Anton Palace kitchen staff have also sent healthcare workers a variety of Easter sweets and treats, to add a dash of sugar to their busy Easter weekend. 

Photo: Office of the President

President Vella has also given up one month’s salary, in a symbolic gesture to help boost the government’s coffers to fight COVID-19. 

As head of state, president Vella earns just shy of €65,000 a year. That amounts to roughly €4,200 a month net of taxes. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela and ministers Julia Farrugia Portelli and Silvio Schembri have also said they will be forfeiting one month's salary. 

The Office of the President continues to provide aid to families in need through the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation.

Billboards reserved for the Foundation have been made available to public health authorities, to use to convey useful messages to help stop the spread of the virus.