Malta has imposed fresh limits on events, limiting the number of people who can attend depending on the size of the venue and obliging event organisers to gather the contact details of attendees.

Addressing a press conference, Health Minister Chris Fearne said that the new standards, which will apply as of 8am tomorrow, will limit event sizes to one person for every four square metres of venue space.

No more than ten people can gather together at one time and organisers will be obliged to gather their guests’ contact numbers for potential contact tracing. No permits will be issued for festa marches.

Events with 100 people or more will have to conduct an entire risk assessment. If the risk is deemed to be too high, permits won’t be given.

Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said the new measures are proportionate to Malta’s situation, based on the principles of social distancing, and are intended to keep the situation stable.

These new measures come amidst a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, with the number of active cases currently standing at 140, including 85 irregular migrants who were rescued by Malta.