Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced further travel bans, now to Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak in those countries.

The suspension comes into effect at midnight tonight, Abela said, saying that the decision was taken after an "exponential" rise in the number of cases in these countries.

On Tuesday, all flights to and from Italy were suspended.

Flights to and from the five aforementioned countries will all be cancelled, except for carrying medicine and food, for an indefinite period. Abela said that decisions are being taken almost every hour, and it could be that other important ones will be taken in the next few hours.

He announced that quarantine is now mandatory for anyone who arrived from Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland today, while the mandatory quarantine is extended to people who arrived from Italy over the last days. Those who returned from Italy a week ago, for example, will need to complete another week of mandatory quarantine.

Those who do not follow these instructions will be subject to €1,000 fine. Spot checks by the police force will take place in order to ensure that infected people abide by these regulations.

People will be able to carry out the mandatory quarantine in their own homes, and if there are more people in the household, they will also need to quarantine themselves.

The fine is for each and every time someone in quarantine breaks the requirement, Abela said.

He added that "we (the government) will not tolerate anyone who will not carry their weight. We will not accept responsibility for their actions and if we see that people are being irresponsible we will increase penalties."

Any tourists coming from the countries mentioned are obliged to quarantine themselves in the residence they have booked to stay in.

The Malta Independent pointed out that some people who are using the Coronavirus helpline 111 are not being assisted or are simply being directed to the coronavirus webpage.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne was present, and said that the helpline is managed by doctors and healthcare professionals. However, there has recently been a surplus of people who are making use of it. For this reason, they have introduced a system that filters through calls as not all cases might be as serious as others.

Fearne explained that the first tier will consist of people answering the calls who are not doctors themselves. These individuals will answer any non-urgent cases while referring any serious cases to the doctors manning the helpline - "this will ensure that we can answer more cases simultaneously."

Abela and Fearne were asked why they opted to make quarantine mandatory now, given that the Medical Association of Malta had already appealed for this measure last week. They insisted that "as a country we are being very proactive, almost too proactive, and decisions are being made following  consultation with health authorities."

He explained that these measures are always bound to change if that is what the health authorities see fit. "Our approach has always been one that moves gradually, but we have always been proactive as we have always followed the recommendations made from the Superintendent of Public Health."

The media also made reference to the death threats that the 16-year-old in quarantine has received after false accusations were made that she broke quarantine. Abela said that the government does not tolerate such behaviour and if needs be, they will open an inquiry about it.

He said that he understands that people might be concerned about people not abiding by quarantine measures and he has emphasised that this is not a time to take lightly "even though we should handle it in a calm manner. However, threats will not be tolerated."

It was pointed out that people are stealing hand sanitizers from Mater Dei Hospital. Fearne said that a number of public areas have been equipped with sanitizers so in his opinion if someone took one and used it appropriately it is not that much of a problem. His concern is that people are taking more than one just to keep at home and appealed for everyone to help each other out and not only think of themselves.

He concluded by appealing for people to maintain a sense of maturity and carry out their responsibility "as we have to work together to overcome this detriment in the shortest time possible.   "

"This might not be the most comfortable time to be living in but this is what is required for us to protect the most precious thing we have, our health."

Air Malta statement

In a statement, Air Malta advised that all its passengers who travelled on its services from these four countries, and anyone who arrived from Italy in the past 14 days have to observe mandatory quarantine at home.

The quarantine is extended to people who live in the same residence who also need to observe quarantine as well. Tourists have to stay in their hotel rooms.

The following options are available to affected passengers:

 1) Maltese Nationals affected from this travel ban and who are currently outside Malta need to contact the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs Office. Residents can contact this office on +356 22042200 or by email on [email protected]. The Ministry will be organising repatriation flights.

2) Non-Maltese Nationals need to contact their respective Embassies.

3) Customers who are starting their trip within the next 7 days and have queries about their tickets can contact the airline’s call centre on +356 25991230.

4) Customers who will not be travelling within 7 days and all other passengers that require refunds can send an email to [email protected].

The Airline is constantly in touch with various Authorities and is closely monitoring the evolving situation. It will announce any changes as the need arises.

 

Air Malta will be keeping its customers updated through its website www.airmalta.com and social media channels including www.facebook.com/AirMalta/