COVID exit roadmap: vaccine certificate for restaurants to be lifted 7 February

Health minister says village feasts could take place in the summer

COVID-19 exit roadmap

  • From 7 February entry to restaurants, snack bars and band clubs will no longer require a valid vaccine certificate
  • From 14 February entry to gyms, spas, pools, cinemas and theatres will no longer require a valid vaccine certificate
  • Village feasts ‘could take place’ in the summer
  • Mandatory quarantine for primary contacts could drop to 5 days

Health Minister Chris Fearne has announced the lifting of COVID-19 restrictive measures.

Making the announcement in parliament on Tuesday, Fearne said the vaccine certificate will no longer be obligatory for restaurants, snack bars and band clubs as from 7 February.

Entry to gyms, spas, pools, cinemas and theatres will no longer require a valid vaccine certificate from the 14 February.

The valid vaccine certificate will still be needed for mass events, sporting events, night clubs, casinos and travelling, even after 14 February. 

“We can do this because the science backs it up. Science is not always popular, but it is always right,” in a swipe at the Nationalist Party, who had come out against the measures.

New measures were announced last December amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, and the detection of the Omicron variant.

The health minister said more than 1,200,000 vaccine doses have been administered since the pandemic started, with 325,000 persons receiving the booster dose. “Three quarters of the population has received the booster, and that means that now is the optimal time to start lifting measures.”

He said that “indications are not bad” that village feasts could take place in the summer. A meeting will be held between government and the curia for feasts to be held in “a safe way”.

Speaking on quarantine, Fearne said the country would soon reach a point when mandatory quarantine for primary contacts can be reduced to five days from seven. “It could also be eliminated completely, but it is still early.”

He said 5% of primary contacts in recent weeks ended up testing positive for the virus, which would have meant that had the quarantine period not been in place, community transmission of the virus would have increased. The positivity rate is decreasing gradually, according to the minister.