Malta Is Using Israel As An Example For Outdoor Mask Removal, Here’s What The Data Looks Like
As the days get hotter, the more frustrating Malta’s mandatory mask law for all public spaces (except beaches as of 1st June) is set to become. While there’s been no official announcement as to when this law will be rescinded, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci has provided a clue – Malta will be analysing Israel’s experience.
So what has Israel’s experience been like so far?
The Western Asian country made mask-wearing mandatory outdoors in April 2020, six months before Malta introduced similar legislation, only suspending it for a week in May due to an intense heatwave.
Since then, the world’s focus turned to Israel as it became a global COVID-19 vaccination leader, and on 18th April, the country dropped its requirement for people to wear masks outdoors, with COVID-19 czar Nachman Ash describing it as a “calculated risk”. Five days later, Charmaine Gauci said that the health authorities will monitor Israel’s experience and re-assesses the mask situation once the majority of people have been fully vaccinated.
Back then, 61.7% of Israelis had received the first dose of the vaccine, while 57.4% were fully vaccinated. Their vaccination figures have only risen slightly since then.
On 18th April, Israel’s seven-day moving average for daily new COVID-19 cases stood at 159, significantly down from the high point of 8,395 daily cases it witnessed last January. Average daily deaths stood at five, down from its January high-point of 25.
It’s now been three weeks since Israel removed its mandatory mask law and the numbers certainly don’t suggest this move has had a reverse effect on this downward trend.
As of Thursday, Israel’s seven-day moving average for daily new COVID-19 cases stood at 60 while its average daily deaths stood at one.
So when will Malta reach the stage Israel was at three weeks ago?
Charmaine Gauci
Statistics show that 57% of Maltese people older than 16 have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose as of 7th May while 26.1% have been fully vaccinated.
If Malta is going to look at Israel’s total vaccination numbers, then it’s only 4.7 percentage points away from reaching the stage Israel was at when removing mandatory masks. If the current vaccination rate is maintained, then it will only take a few days for it to reach 61.7%, the percentage Israel was at when it removed mandatory masks outdoors.
Getting to Israel’s 18th April stage of fully vaccinated people will take a while longer, although it’s hard to predict how much longer, given that different vaccines have different gaps between the two doses, while the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine has recently been added to the mix too.
However, Charmaine Gauci has said Malta is basing its herd immunity calculations based on the share of people who have received at least one vaccine shot.
If that’s the case across the board and if Israel maintains its downward trend, then the data shows Malta should remove masks in a few days’ time.
Yet Health Minister Chris Fearne offered a more cautious view of the situation on Friday, insisting that the mask rules have given the health authorities leeway to relax a range of COVID-19 restrictions. Despite this dictum, mandatory mask laws will be relaxed on beaches as of 1st June, the day Malta is set to reopen to tourists.
Do you think Malta should remove mandatory masks outdoors?
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