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Lifting more COVID-19 restrictions
Lifting more COVID-19 restrictions
As of next Lunedì, 7 Febbraio 2022, restrictions on private gatherings will be removed, announced health minister Chris Fearne.
During a press conference, the minister announced the removal and amendment of a number of restrictions, which are outlines below. He added that the majority of COVID-19 measures would be completely removed by the start of summer 2022.
The vaccine certificates
As of next Lunedì, 7 Febbraio, a valid vaccine certificate will no longer be required to enter restaurants, bars, snack bars and kazini.
The quarantine
According to the minister, quarantine periods will be addressed towards the end of the month, on 21 Febbraio. If the positivity rate continues to drop, primary contacts will only need to quarantine for five days, as opposed to seven and then present a negative test.
“The next step will then be to end quarantine for primary contacts and then we’ll look at quarantine for actual positive cases,” he said.
As of today, children between the ages of five and 11 who are primary contacts, will only need to quarantine for seven days.
The travelling
As of the 7 of Febbraio, Malta will start recognising vaccine certificates from Jordan and the Maldives, meaning that people arriving from those countries will not need to quarantine upon arrival.
As of the following Lunedì, 14 Febbraio, also known to many as Valentine’s Day, travellers from dark red zone countries will need to quarantine for 10 days, as opposed to 14.
Maltese residents arriving from dark red zones and countries can quarantine in their homes and not in a designated quarantine hotel. This includes employees who arrive in the country with a work permit approval, but are waiting on their residence documents.
The weddings
Fast forward to 1 Aprile and weddings that are standing events can cater for up to 300 people. Seated weddings, on the other hand, will remain with a capping of 500 people. These numbers are set to increase in the following months of Maggio and Giugno, said the minister.
As it stands, the rules allow seated weddings with up to 500 people with a valid vaccine certificate and social distancing, or up to 100 people standing.
The private gatherings
As of next Lunedì, the restriction of the number of people who can gather at private houses will be lifted entirely! As it stands, only four households are allowed to gather in private residences and households. “This was important during Christmas time because we knew community transmission would be high. Now that its over and numbers are down, this measure that no more than four households can gather will be relaxed completely,” said the minister.
What do you think of these changes?
