The health and safety of the Maltese and Valletta citizens comes first and foremost, Valletta mayor Alfred Zammit said on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Valletta Local Council cancelled two events planned for this weekend, due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Posting on Facebook, Zammit announced that the official visit of the President George Vella, which was to take place on Friday 31 July at 7pm, has been cancelled. The decision was a joint one between the local council and president.

The Mayor called for all organisations and associations to be “responsible in this very sensitive period vis-à-vis COVID-19”.

The Valletta 5K race & Walk held by the Mellieha Athletic Club which was to take place on Sunday morning in Valletta has now changed and an alternative route has been planned at Ta Qali.

The decision came after a number of parties, feasts and events were cancelled or postponed until further notice due to the spike in active cases, which are linked to recent parties and village band march.

Doctors and nurses have threatened industrial action as from next Monday unless mass events, including international festivals are cancelled by Monday.

The Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives accused Prime Minster Robert Abela of choosing ‘greedy businessmen’ over the lives of vulnerable people, while the Chamber of Pharmacists also registered an industrial dispute against the government over the same subject.