A number of people seemingly chose to ignore recently implemented public gathering measures in favour of going for a spring-time swim at St. Peter’s Pool on Thursday.

A picture sent to this newsroom shows groups of people – including one which is made up of 15 people – in gaggles near the St. Peter’s Pool beauty spot in Birzebbuga on Thursday afternoon.

The number of people who can gather outdoors together is limited to two people under a new restriction which came into effect on Wednesday.  The limit was previously set at four people.

The only exemption is for people – such as families – who live under the same roof.

Those caught breaking the gatherings regulation are subject to a €300 fine.

The public gathering measures are part of a set of Covid-19 measures which have seen Malta reduce its number of active cases drastically.

As of Thursday, Malta had 740 active cases of the virus – a far cry from over 3,000 active cases just a couple of weeks ago.