Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
Final hours: unlock premium data with Claim 60% OFF
Malta reimposes curbs as COVID-19 infections surge
Published Aug 07, 2020 09:50AM ET
Updated Aug 07, 2020 09:55AM ET
VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta banned mass gatherings and made it mandatory to wear masks in public on Friday as new coronavirus cases surged after having been reduced to zero for a week early in July.
Health authorities reported 49 new infections on Friday, the second highest daily number since the first case was detected on March 7. Nine patients have died.
Prime Minister Robert Abela ordered restrictions on public gatherings and measures to limit direct access to people in nursing homes, with visitors required to remain behind Perspex screens.
"This is not a time to point the finger of blame," Abela told reporters. "We took all steps during this pandemic with the best interest of the public in mind."
The decision to reimpose controls represents a sharp turnaround for Malta, which depends on tourism for a third of its GDP.
The Mediterranean country has conducted the third-highest level of testing in the European Union and had lifted restrictions and re-opened some overseas travel last month as case numbers fell. It now joins a growing list of countries forced to reimpose controls after early successes in controlling the disease.
Public gatherings in large spaces will be limited to no more than 100 indoors and 300 outdoors. Smaller spaces will be limited to one person per four square metres.
More testing centres are being opened after a surge in demand. Anyone found not wearing a mask in public faces a 50 euro fine with fines of 3,000 euros for organisers of large events.
Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania have banned travel from Malta or imposed a quarantine period for visitors from the islands. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending against non-essential travel to Malta.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.