Some of the restrictions introduced to combat the Covid-19 pandemic could potentially begin being relaxed in the coming days, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne has said.

This depends on whether the trend of the low number of new cases persists. He warned, however, that life will not return to normal until a vaccine for the virus is discovered and made widely available for the public.

Fearne stressed: "we will eventually get rid of the virus but we have to get used to living with the virus as well." He warned that relaxing some measures must not be interpreted as though everything is back to normal, and that mass events could be organised, or that people gather in large groups.

The relaxing of measures will be done gradually, he said, on the back of scientific advice.

Fearne said clearly that, should there be the need, some measures could be reintroduced.

The minister highlighted that Malta was successful in containing the epidemic through the measures that were introduced, and also said that this helped the healthcare system cope with the number of cases thus far.

He said that the public should not assume that the epidemic is easing.

"Although the numbers of cases in Malta is small, this does not mean that the coronavirus has disappeared. The pandemic around the world hasn't passed."