Prime Minister Robert Abela today announced that a number of Covid-19 measures are to start being relaxed as from Monday, including that some stores will be able to again open, that travel to Malta and Gozo will resume, that the maximum number of people allowed to be in a group in public will increase to four, and that the wearing of masks in public places will become mandatory.

He said that Malta has reached the stage where it can start gradually relaxing measures. A number of commercial establishments will be able to open again on Monday, he said, adding that "today we began on the road towards a new normality."

He said that the government always followed the medical and scientific advice it received, as it has done today, and spoke of his satisfaction that he had not succumbed to pressure to introduce a lockdown which, he said, would have caused great suffering and great economic losses.

"It is crucial that the public continue to cooperate responsibly," he said, in order for the government to be in a position to announce the further relaxation of measures.

"Today does not mean that everything has passed, but that normality is slowly coming closer", Abela said.

He said that the plan is that, within three weeks, the government will continue relaxing and revoking restrictive measures, as long as the situation continues to improve. The aim, he said, is that by the end of the month the majority of commercial establishments that were closed due to the restrictive measures, again open. He said that this does not mean everything will be re-opened by the end of the month, and clarified that the Airport will not open by then.

Referring to the €800 given to pay for wages for employees of establishments worst hit by the virus measures, he said that the government, despite allowing the opening of a number of commercial establishments on Monday, the government will keep paying the €800 wage supplement to them, he said.

Some retail outlets to re-open, some medical services, travel between Malta and Gozo to resume; masks in public places to become mandatory

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne divided the measures being introduced into four sections, and said that they would be pinned to the country's rfactor - which is the rate at which the virus is transmitted - which has to remain below 1, as it has for the past two weeks.

Fearne said that restrictions on medical services will be reduced.  As of Monday, all Health Centres will be opened and will start to give vaccines again, a service which was previously restricted to the clinics in Mosta and Floriana.  He said that a press conference dedicated to this will take place tomorrow, with a new vaccine unrelated to Covid-19 also being made available. 

Cancer screenings will start again as of next week, as will CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, and echocardiograms. 

The second restrictions to be relaxed are those with regards to retail outlets. Fearne said that a number of retail outlets that were closed over the past weeks that were closed down, can re-open with certain precautions in place. The outlets are as follows: Lottery outlets, VRT stations, Clothing and sports shops, jewellery and accessory stores,  bag and shoe shops, optical stores which do not offer prescriptions, beauty product shop (but not hairdressers, salons or beauticians), home décor shops, souvenir shops, discount stores, flower shops, tailors, hobby stores, and furniture shops.

All those who go out to a shop or in a place where there may be contact with the public, including public transport, will be obliged to wear a mask, as well as when in shops. This, Fearne explained, is so to prevent those who may be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, and hence being unaware of having the virus, from transmitting the virus to others.

Furthermore, social distancing measures for shops will remain in place.  Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said that shop owners must work out the area of their shops, and then work out the number of clients that they can allow inside at once based on the formula of having 1 person for every 10 square metres. Fearne added that there will be collaboration with local councils so the appropriate two metre distance is marked outside shops for those who are queueing.  

Fearne added that hand hygeine will remain important and that shops should have hand sanitisers for people to use when going in and out of the shop.  Furthermore, he added, changing rooms for clothes shops cannot be used as well as clothes which are tried on but not taken may be a source of transmission for the virus.

Restricitons on travel between Malta and Gozo will also be relaxed come Monday. Anyone can now travel between the two islands, but the Gozo Channel boats will have a smaller than usual capacity for cars and people so that social distancing onboard can be maintained.

The court registry meanwhile, Fearne said, will also re-open as of Monday.

The last measure being relaxed is that with regards to gatherings in public. The law had stipulated that people could not gather outdoors in groups of more than 3 people unless they were from the same household and stipulated a €100 fine for those who break this law.  The limit on public gatherings has now been increased to a maximum of 4 people in one group - with the same €100 fine still applying.

Still, Fearne said that the same measures are observed at home. "BBQs, parties, and dinners are still dangerous", he said.

The Health Minister said that the same measures for those who are over 65 or classified as medically vulnerable to potential complications from Covid-19 will remain in place, and that they are still encouraged to stay inside unless for essential reasons.

Fearne said that the measures will continue to be evaluated over the next three weeks and that people need to stay responsible. He said that a relapse to a situation where Malta's rfactor skips the 1 threshold again could lead to these measures being put back in place.

Gauci said that a legal notice is being prepared to replace the previous one which stipulated the closure of the aforementioned retail outlets.  This legal notice will contain the conditions mentioned above, hence making them enforceable by law.

Asked by The Malta Independent about a study carried out by the American Centre for Disease Control (CDC) which indicated that air-conditioners in public places may make droplet transmission of Covid-19 more likely, Gauci said that health authorities will be providing guidelines to businesses in this regard so to eliminate every risk of disease - be it Covid-19 or others as a result of these cooling systems being turned off for a number of weeks - possible.

Asked whether systems of tele-working should remain in place for now, Gauci said that because the principles of social distancing remain in place then teleworking should continue to be utilised.