[WATCH] Vaccinated residents of Malta travelling from dark-red zones can now quarantine at home

Health Minister Chris Fearne announces that fully vaccinated Maltese residents who live in households of less than five can quarantine at home as of Friday

Health Minister Chris Fearne was speaking at a press conference on the launch of a new CT scan at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre
Health Minister Chris Fearne was speaking at a press conference on the launch of a new CT scan at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre

Press conference highlights:

  • Fully vaccinated residents from dark-red zones can quarantine at home 
  • Russia and India could be removed from the dark-red list
  • The island will accept the Canadian vaccine certificate from Friday
  • Entertainment venues can restrict entrance to fully vaccinated

Fully vaccinated Maltese residents travelling from dark-red zones can now quarantine at home as long as they have a vaccine certificate and their household members are vaccinated, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Wednesday.

Fearne was speaking at a press conference on the launch of a new CT scan at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre.

The measure will come into force from Friday 17 September at 8am.

The decision comes in the wake of growing pressure from various quarters over the tough quarantine protocols for travellers, including Maltese residents, arriving from dark red zone countries.

Fearne added that the hotel quarantine will still apply to people from households of more than five and those who are not vaccinated. 

The health minister also said that Malta would update its dark-red list in the coming days. This could see countries such as Russia and India removed from the list, he added. 

Fearne said this was because the country's focus has now turned to stopping the new Mu variant (originally found in Colombia) from entering the country rather than the Delta variant, which has now made its way across the world. 

Fearne also said that Malta would start accepting the Canadian vaccine certificate from Friday, meaning that vaccinated passengers arriving from the country will no longer have to quarantine.  

"We can't allow the fear of the pandemic to paralyse us. It's going to be with us in the long term, so we must learn to leave with it," Fearne said. 

The health minister also said that 91% of Maltese residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine are now fully vaccinated.

He said that by the end of this week, they will have given the booster dose of the vaccine to all those who live in elderly homes in Malta and Gozo.

On hospitalisation, Fearne said that one patient was not vaccinated out of the five in the ITU. Still, the remaining four were immunosuppressed, highlighting the need for a booster dose for this demographic.

Fearne also said that entertainment venues could choose to restrict entrance to fully vaccinated persons, which would come with perks such as further relaxation of social distancing measures.