Prime Minister Robert Abela said that he was never scared of taking on the responsibility that comes with the implementation and relaxation of measures as these were always done after consultation with healthcare professionals.

During a press conference in which the government announced the relaxation of some measures related to Covid-19, The Malta Independent asked Abela if he will be holding all political responsibility if the relaxation of measures results in an increase in Covid-19 patients or worse, deaths.

He said that he finds it difficult to understand why people keep scaring others with death when the government has taken all the necessary informed decisions, as there was never a case where decisions were not consulted with public health authorities.

"We worked in a model wherein everyone was pulling the same rope in order to ensure that the health and well-being of our people and the social progress of our country," he said.

Abela explained that the easiest decision for him would have been to accept calls for a lockdown as a percentage of the population was suggesting. However, he would then have been responsible for the deaths from mental health issues or other consequences that result from leaving so many people locked up in their homes, like solitude.

He insisted that he is not scared of taking on the responsibility for the measures the government implemented or relaxed over the past weeks as they were done after consultation with health authorities.

"We were never scared of responsibility. We based our decisions on deep and lengthy discussions and debates which have the quality of life of our entire country in mind," he said.

He said that these are not easy decisions to take because if they were to fail, you can either put people's health at risk or jeopardise the country's economy. Thus, there is no margin of error, everything has to be done perfectly. Abela insisted that this cannot be achieved alone but by being surrounded by professionals and listening to them.

"I am proud to say that the decisions we have taken in the past few weeks as the results they procured have been encouraging," he concluded.

The measures that were relaxed on Monday include the reopening of restaurants, hair salons and beauticians starting from Friday 22 May. A number of healthcare services will start being offered again while local clinics will also be reopened. Funeral masses will also be allowed as well as the practice of non-contact sports.

These come a whole two weeks after the first relaxation of measures which saw all non-essential retail shops reopen on the condition tha a facemask is used by all customers

The PM was also asked about the opening of restaurants, and whether there would be enough personnel to oversee all restaurants across Malta and Gozo to ensure that social distancing regulations are abided by, given that restaurants will reopen on Friday. This means that tables will have to be separated at a certain distance from each other and bookings are limited to 6 people per table.

Abela said that this situation “is not a case of enforcement but one of education” as it is everyone’s responsibility to abide by the guidelines that the government suggests. “We are not going to ruin the experience of going to a restaurant, we want it to be as it was before but with caution,” he said.

So, there will be no officials checking up on restaurants during opening hours as it is everyone's responsibility to look at the guidelines, follow them and move forward, he said.