While the health authorities are urging social distancing, while the law limits the maximum number of people in groups to four, there are still major concerns as to whether or not the virus will be contained with the summer heat already upon us, which means that people must observe the social distancing guidelines.

The spread of the Coronavirus had caused Malta to impose certain restrictive measures, such as the group number mentioned above as well as others which had included the closing of non-essential shops, the airport and others. Now however, the government is moving towards relaxing certain measures and some measures have already been relaxed.

However with the summer heat already upon us, concerns regarding the situation are rising, especially given that people will flock to beaches and the sea side.

A perfect example would be the situation at Exiles this past weekend. Young people gathered in groups larger than four drinking and making merry.

But this was not the only situation. Photos have been making the rounds on social media of many Maltese hitting beaches around the islands, and as temperatures rise, more and more will head to the seaside. There needs to be clear enforcement of group sizes on beaches, lest we end up with a spike in Covid-19 numbers.

Controlling the group sizes on beaches will not be easy, and officials would need to monitor each beach daily to ensure regulations are enforced. At the same time another question arises, regarding those that rent out sunbeds. Will they be given a larger area to operate in, and would that be fair to the rest of the public who want to make use of the beaches?

Seaside bars that sell take-away food must also have a responsibility, to report to the police if large groups gather in their vicinity. Having a bar selling drinks or takeaway food near a beach will entice people to gather in those areas after all.

Indeed the number of daily new cases had already reached double digits again last week, which caused worry.

Now the government is talking about relaxing more measures, and is even talking about opening possible travel corridors with nine other countries.

The Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives however, has urged against this, appealing to the Prime Minister not to consider any form of tourism this summer as the country deals with the Coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the nurses and midwives’ union said it had been approached by its members with “shock and anger” on hearing on the media that Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli is even considering some form of tourism from the so-called 9 “safe” countries.

The Prime Minister yesterday made clear that these were just discussions and does not mean that a decision on foreign tourists will be taken tomorrow on this issue.

Thus it is prudent to monitor the situation further before making such a decision. The last word must, of course, be taken by the health authorities.