Flights to and from the UK will be suspended as from Tuesday 22 December, the government has announced.

The decision to suspend flights was taken in light of a new strain of Covid-19 found in UK patients.

Earlier on Monday the government had said that flights would continue but a 14-day quarantine period would be mandatory for all travellers.

In a second statement, it said that Maltese in the UK will be allowed to return, but they will be subjected to a PCR test upon return and will need to quarantine for 14 days.

This is a temporary decision, the government said, adding that the Maltese health authorities are closely following developments in the UK and participating in discussions with the EU for the bloc to come up with a common position.  

Other EU countries have stopped flights from the UK.

Government should limit air access to Mlatese and residents' - PN Covid Action Team 

In between the two government statements, the Nationalist Party said latest developments on the new Covid-19 variant are worrying and the government has the obligation to exercise the greatest caution possible so that all sacrifices made in recent months by all frontliners and the population will not be in vain.

"Our country cannot suffer consequences as it did a few months ago when erroneous decisions were taken by the government, against the advice of health professionals and public health experts, leading to an unprecedented crisis in the pandemic's spread," the statement read, hinting at the spike in Covid-19 cases during the summer period when mass events were still allowed to take place.

It appealed for the government to take immediate action and limit air access to Maltese and returning residents who should undergo a mandatory test at the airport and then be placed in quarantine.