Easing of more COVID-19 measures to be announced in coming days’ – Fearne

The government will disclose its plan to ease more COVID-19 measures in the coming days, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Tuesday during a press conference at Mount Carmel Hospital.

He gave no details as to which measures will be eased. The next raft of measures to be relaxed will come into force on 10 May.

“As cases have remained low, our plans will remain in place to reopen certain sectors on Monday… in the coming days, we will also be announcing the easing of more measures,” Fearne said.

On 10 May, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to reopen for the first time since March. They will be allowed to offer dining in service until 5pm. Restriction on travel between Malta and Gozo, as well as non-contact sports, will resume.

However, Fearne stressed that it was important that masks continued to be worn and warned that mask-wearing will continue to be mandatory for a while longer.

He also revealed that 55% of adults have had the first dose of the vaccine and urged persons over 30 to register for the vaccine.

The single-shot, Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is due to start being administered this week, Fearne confirmed.