More COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted on Monday, Prime Minister Robert Abela has revealed. 

Abela made the pledge during a press conference with Finance Minister Clyde Caruana revealing that every worker and student in Malta will receive a €100 cheque at home, while pensioners and people on social benefits will receive €200.

On 17th January, people who weren’t adequately vaccinated with a booster were no longer allowed to enter a number of commercial establishments, while also placing travel restrictions.

However, a few days later, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced that as of 7th February, vaccine certificates would no longer be obligatory to enter restaurants, snack bars or kazini; while the rules for bars, gyms, and pools would be scrapped.

Restrictions remain in place when it comes to travel, casinos, and nightclubs. In Malta, it is also obligatory to wear face masks in public spaces, unless you’re two people and vaccinated.

The rules have proven to be extremely controversial, with the Nationalist Party striking out against them, hundreds of people taking to the streets in protest, and a court case filed.  

Should all measures be lifted?