Hairdressers and restaurants will be open to the public under new measures by the end of the coming week, Malta’s Prime Minister has confirmed.

In an interview with ONE, Robert Abela went on to say that when restaurants will re-open, he will be the first to eat out with his family.

“If I open restaurants next Friday I’ll be the first to go to send a message. I don’t experiment with people, I’ll be the first to go to send a message that it’s safe. It can’t be a confusing message but a clear and simple one,” Abela said.

He went on to say that outlets will most probably have to operate under new procedures, but that the government would be “flexible”.

“Some restaurants won’t have as many tables as before… so we must think differently. If in the past, we told a restaurant that, because of the regulations on tables and chairs, they cannot place tables and chairs outside, we must now start relaxing this a bit. That’s the reality, or else we’ll risk everything staying closed. While I understand some restaurants will find it a bit harder to operate in this new reality, we will be flexible,” he said.

The government is expected to announce the lifting of a number of restrictive measures tomorrow.

During the interview, Abela also confirmed that Malta would not be buying a prefabricated hospital as was previously planned. In light of the potential lifting of measures, however, Abela urged people to continue to practice social distancing.

As the country continues to fight the coronavirus, Abela said new measures need to be proportionate and that the government wouldn’t be taking a ‘Big Brother’ approach.

“Is it logical to paralyse a country’s economy because you had COVID-19 and within four weeks were healed?” he asked while saying his government was “more pro-business than ever”.

What do you think of these new plans?