Forcing Maltese residents to spend €1,400 to quarantine in a hotel when they have alternative accommodation is draconian and excessive, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Tuesday.

Grech posted this message on social media, just hours after Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that the government would be announcing changes to quarantine protocols on Wednesday.

"No other EU state is doing this," Grech said about the quarantine hotel situation.

"The move is also being challenged from a human rights perspective. If this court case is successful, Maltese taxpayers will likely have to pay moral damages over and above refunds.

"Besides changing this policy tomorrow, as Chris Fearne has pledged to do following pressure from the Opposition, we also expect an immediate refund to all those Maltese residents who have been forced into such a situation. The government must stop issuing rules that cannot stand up to human rights scrutiny and that leave the taxpayer exposed."