LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese health authorities confirmed the first cases of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne said that three cases of the Brazilian variant have been found in Malta, all of which were brought in by people coming to Malta. The three cases are currently in quarantine.
The total number of active cases in Malta stands at 519. No new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours. So far, 411 lost their life due to the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Fearne announced that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been granted approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and will start to be used in Malta.
Fearne said by the end of the week over 300,000 vaccinations would have been administered, with two-thirds of those aged between 50 and 59 already receiving the first dose. He also explained that so far around 90% of people aged 60 and over have been vaccinated. People over 40 can register for the Covid-19 vaccine from this Friday.
Chris Fearne also announced that if the numbers of cases reported daily and the numbers of people admitted to Mater Dei Hospital remain low and stable, it will be possible to relax a number of measures from next Monday.
Non-essential shops, museums and non-essential services will be reopened while the number of people allowed to gather in public will increase to four. Gatherings in private residences will allow people from a maximum of four different households.
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association is insisting that restaurants should be reopened on Monday along with other non-essential shops, including hotel restaurants which are presently not permitted to serve breakfasts to their guests.
The association is also insisting that tourism sector workers should be prioritized for vaccination against Covid-19, and that all should be vaccinated before Malta reopens for tourism in June.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews