Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that a number of Covid restrictions will be removed in the coming weeks as case numbers continue to decrease.
From Monday 17 May Government will release further social restrictions, particularly relating to the protocol on visits to the elderly. In the coming weeks, the elderly will be allowed to leave these premises in an organised way.
As from Monday 24:
Restaurants and snack bars will be allowed to operate till Midnight.
Pools will be allowed to re-open until 8pm for swimming activity only.
Re-opening of gyms, but classes will not be permitted
Re-opening of day centres
Contact sports (not team sports) will be allowed for persons aged over 17
Sports for children will not resume for the time being as not to put at risk examinations taking place in the weeks after.
Weddings will resume as from 1st June, as will the re-opening of Language schools.
By the 7th of June, restaurants and snack bars will be allowed to host six persons on each table. Bars and Kazini will be allowed to re-open, while team sport will be allowed to re-open.
Contact sport will resume for youngsters below the age of 17.
Discussions with the Curia will be undertaken on the organisation of feasts but mass events will not be on the cards yet.
The Minister explained that “the pandemic is still ongoing and in various continents, with this week being one of the worst since its onset. On the other hand, in our country, the numbers remained manageable. He revealed that there were only nine new cases yesterday, taking the active case tally down to 260. This is the lowest figure since August, he said. The positivity rate is at 1.2%. Patients in intensive care have also decreased substantially, now standing at five”.
In this background, further restrictive measures can be reduced so that people can get on with their lives. Fearne warned that if numbers increased, the removal as restrictions may be pushed back.
On Monday, extra-curricular activities will resume, such as art or dancing schools, as well as non-contact sport will resume. Open air markets, travelling between Malta and Gozo will resume, while restaurants and snackbars, seating no more than four people on each table, will be allowed to re-open until 5pm.
