Robert Abela shuts down speculation on lockdown

Malta is not heading towards a lockdown, Prime Minister Robert Abela said as he shut down speculation that has been doing the rounds on social media.

Referring to a screenshot that has been doing the rounds, announcing a list of new COVID-19 measures akin to a total lockdown, Abela said the country will not go into lockdown.

“I don’t know from where this came but I can confirm that we are not heading towards a total lockdown,” he said.

Abela steered clear of overstepping the Public Health Superintendent when asked whether government should relax face-mask measures to allow people to walk in the countryside without a mask and be more flexible with snack bars.

“I will not contradict Charmaine Gauci and my colleague Chris Fearne. But it is important that we understand where we are. The world is heading towards total lockdowns. We are living with restrictions but continuing with our life. But we must be careful not to relax on our measures. We have to evaluate what happens if we lift some restrictions and whether this will result in stricter measures having to be introduced in the following weeks. This is something we do not want to do,” Abela said.

Malta introduced compulsory face masks in all public places, shut down bars for a month and reduced the number of people that can gather in public to six, as it tightened restrictions to combat a surge in coronavirus cases.