Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri confirmed that discussions are underway with the relevant authorities regarding enforcement in Gozo during the Carnival season. PN MP Maria Deguara suggested that stricter regulations need to be put on youths "who think that they are immune to the disease."

During Tuesday's parliamentary session, PN MP Kevin Cutajar asked Camilleri what precautions he is considering for this period in order to put people's concerns to rest and ensure that there is no repeat of the influx of positive cases seen after the Christmas period.

Camilleri said that throughout the pandemic, especially during summer, Maltese people were heading to Gozo in a tourism trend, since Maltese were not travelling abroad. "We even incentivised people to come to Gozo with reduced ferry prices. In fact, I do not think that establishments in Gozo suffered as much as those in Malta did."

In light of this, he said that he does not think that the Carnival itself will result in an influx of people heading to Gozo as all mass activities have been cancelled with just minor, controlled events like drive-in cinema and exhibitions taking place.

"There are more people who want to come to Gozo because of the three days of vacation that children get from school. This is good for internal tourism and the issue is not that they come to visit, but about having masses of people congregating and enforcement of rules will take place," the Minister confirmed.

However, he added that it is also a responsibility of the people to follow the directives from the health authorities. "There is a concern about separate households coming together and I think that apart from the measures we will be implementing, we also need to educate people more and remind them to be responsible and stick to their bubbles."

He explained that discussions underway with various authorities to control the situation without hindering internal tourism and, in the coming days, he will be in a position to inform the public about these measures.

'Youths should be asked to disclose their accommodation address and number of people staying there' - Maria Deguara

PN MP Maria Deguara called for further information as to what measures are being discussed, especially those relating to youths.

She explained that families are not the main issue as, despite events being cancelled, youths will still go to Gozo.

She suggested that youths should be stopped when boarding the ferry and asked to provide the address of their accommodation and the amount of people that are supposed to be staying there. The houses can then be checked over the Carnival period and if there are more people staying there than previously indicated, the law can be enforced.

"Youths are youths, and they think that they are immune to disease, but they need to understand that there are vulnerable individuals around them," she remarked.

Camilleri shot her claim down, accusing her of blaming the spread of the virus on youths - "I completely disagree that youths do not care for their elderly or relatives and that they are the one spreading the virus."

He added that the opposition seems to be targeting Gozo and suggesting that the island be closed off, which cannot be the case.

Notably, all events across Malta and Gozo have been cancelled this year as per directives from the health authorities, even the much-anticipated celebrations in Nadur, Gozo, were cancelled, with the local council saying that the police will be on the lookout for spontaneous celebrations.

Gozo Tourism Authority CEO Joe Muscat told this newsroom that accommodations are not fully booked for the Carnival season as they usually are at this time of year and bookings are at the same level as previous months during this pandemic.