LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne announced in Parliament that the vaccine certificates will no longer be required for admission to various public venues as from February.

The certificates will be no longer needed to enter restaurants, snack bars and social clubs as from February, 7. The requirement will not be applicable for bars, gyms, pools, spas, cinemas and theatres as from February, 14.

However, the certificates will still be required for organised events, for spectators in sporting events, for travelling and to enter nightclubs.

These restrictive measures against COVID-19 transmission were introduced by the local health authories only last week. The requirements had been criticised by various associations representing the hospitality industry and the Nationalist opposition.

However, Minister Fearne insisted that the government’s decision was based on scientific evidence. “Measures must be timely, and they should only be withdrawn when the time is right,” the minister said. “The science is not always popular but it is almost always right,” Fearne added.

Around 75% of the adult population had received the vaccine booster dose, stabilising the number of Covid-19 cases while keeping low and stable the numbers of people in intensive care. 1,201,389 vaccine doses have been administered to date, 325,224 of which are booster doses, while 101 patients are being treated for Covid-19 at Mater Dei hospital, six of whom are in intensive care.

However, Covid-19 claimed two more lives in the last 24 hours, with a man aged 86 and another man aged 88 passing away while Covid positive. A total of 538 people have died while Covid-19 positive since the start of the pandemic.

In Wednesday’s medical bullettin update, the health authorities said that 314 new cases were found. The number of active cases currently stands at 4,309.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews