Your essential guide to the latest COVID-19 restrictions

Open-air markets cannot operate, cinemas are closed and a host of shops have to remain shut under new COVID-19 restrictions that kicked off on 11 March.

The new restrictions will remain in force until 11 April as part of the country’s efforts to stymie the spread of COVID-19.

Here is a quick guide to the new rules based on the legal notices that have been published. The new rules are over and above other regulations mandating the wearing of face masks in public and limiting family gatherings at home to not more than four households.

1. CLOSURE OF NON-ESSENTIAL RETAIL OUTLETS AND NON-ESSENTIAL SERVICES

Clothes shops are closed

Who is affected:

• Closure of all shops, whether operating in shopping malls or elsewhere, whose main business relates to the selling of:

• Clothing
• Sportswear
• Jewellery
• Hand bags and leather goods
• Costume jewellery and accessories
• Footwear
• Non-prescription eye-wear
• Perfumeries
• Beauty products
• Haberdasheries
• Soft furnishings
• Souvenir shops
• Discount stores
• Luggage shops
• Toy shops
• Hobby shops
• Furniture shops
• Florists
• Vaping shops

Barber shops and hairdressing salons are shut

• Closure of outlets providing non-essential services:

• Hairdressers
• Massage parlours
• Barbers
• Beauticians
• Spas
• Nail artists
• Nail technicians
• Tattooists

Exceptions:

• Shops selling goods NOT services may provide delivery services of their products to the community

Fine:

• Outlets and service outlets in breach of these regulations will incur a penalty of €6,000 for each and every breach

2. CLOSURE OF PLACES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Open-air markets are also banned under the new restrictions

Who is affected:

• The following places are shut:

• Open-air markets
• Cinemas
• Theatres
• Gymnasiums
• Museums
• Exhibitions
• Casinos
• Bingo halls
• Non-residential swimming pools, including both indoor and outdoor pools, including the national swimming pool

Fine:

• The fine for anyone found in breach of these regulations is €6,000 for every offence

3. HOTEL RESTAURANTS

Who is affected:

• Hotel restaurants can only offer “room service to their guests and delivery service in the community”.

Fine:

• This forms part of the previous regulations that forced the closure of restaurants, snack bars, cafeterias and kiosks except to offer delivery services. The fine for breaching these rules is €6,000.

4. NUMBER OF PERSONS IN PUBLIC SPACES

Public gatherings are limited to four persons

Who is affected:

• Groups of more than 4 persons in public spaces are prohibited

• This includes queues and bus stops

Exceptions:

• The limit of 4 persons does not apply to people living in the same residence

• The ban does not apply if people in queues and on bus stops keep a distance of 2m between them

Fine:

• People who fail to abide by these regulations will incur a penalty of €100 for each and every breach. If the offence is admitted and penalty paid before judgment, the fine is reduced to €50.

5. MASS EVENTS

All mass events, including church functions apart from funerals, cannot be held

Who is affected:

• All organised mass events are prohibited

Exceptions:

• Funerals are exempt provided they are held “in strict adherence with the standards published by the Public Health Superintendent

Fine:

• People who do not abide by these regulations are liable to a fine of €6,000 for each and every breach

6. GOZO-MALTA TRAVEL

Movement between the islands has been restricted to essential travel

Who is affected:

Non-essential travel between Malta and Gozo is banned

Exceptions:

• Travel between Malta and Gozo is only allowed for:

• Work purposes
• To visit family members
• Medical reasons
• Visit a hospitalised family member
• To return to your place of registered or ordinary residence
• Commercial vehicles and merchandise

7. ORGANISED SPORTS ACTIVITIES

All organised sport activities are banned but national sport teams may be granted exceptions by the Public Health Superintendent (Photo: MFA/Domenic Aquilina)

Who is affected:

• All organised sport activities are prohibited

Exception:

• The Public Health Superintendent may, at “her discretion and subject to any conditions she may deem necessary”, exempt “national Maltese sport teams” from these regulations in “exceptional or necessary cases including international games”.

Fine:

• Any person officially responsible for a sporting organisation, who breaches these regulations be liable to a penalty of €6,000 for each and every occasion when these rules are breached