COVID-19: Prime Minister announces new €1 million aid package for bars and clubs

Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced government will be aiding bar owners and clubs with a €1 million package after their closure was extended for another month.

Band clubs who were forced to close will also be benefitting from the financial aid.

Abela said details on the state-aid package will be announced in the coming days.

On Thursday, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci announced government would be extending the legal notice preventing bars and clubs from opening for business. The closure has been extended until 1 February as the health authorities fear a surge in cases after the Christmas holidays.

Bars, clubs and band clubs were forcibly closed at the end of October, with government planning to reopen them at the beginning of December.

However, the closure was extended throughout December as COVID-19 cases did not drop although the situation remained contained.

“It’s not worth taking the risk to compromise health services when the vaccine is around the corner,” Abela had said when announcing the first extension to the ban.

READ ALSO: Bars, clubs to remain closed, Robert Abela says

They will now remain closed throughout January as restrictive measures remain in place.

Malta has started rolling out the vaccine to frontliners in hospitals and will on Monday extend that to care homes. The authorities are insisting that preventive measures will remain in place until numbers of new infections and hospitalised patients start to drop later on this year.