Breaking: Malta To Announce End Of Travel Lists In Coming Days As Chris Fearne Declares ‘Pandemic Is Over’
Malta will in the coming days announce an end to the much-maligned COVID-19 travel lists, Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed today.
On ONE TV’s Paperscan this morning, Fearne said COVID-19 travel rules will be discussed at EU level this week and that Malta will push for a relaxation of restrictions.
“There will no longer be a red list and a dark red list but rather everyone will be able to travel here if they present a negative test, a recovery certificate or a vaccine certificate.”
“We will announce how this will work in the coming days so that travel can go back to normal without endangering public health.”
As it stands, Malta divides countries into ‘red’ and ‘dark red’ lists. Travellers from ‘red’ countries can enter Malta freely if they present a valid vaccine certificate, COVID-19 recovery certificate or negative PCR test, while travellers from ‘dark red’ countries must seek prior approval from the Superintendence of Public Health.
Those who have been approved must stay in quarantine for seven days if they’re vaccinated and 14 days if they’re unvaccinated.
@lovinmaltaofficial Health Minister Chris Fearne has announced a couple of hours ahead of Labour's first post-election mass meeting 👀 Thoughts? #lovinmalta #fypmalta #maltatiktok #viraltiktokvideo #fypmalta🇲🇹 #videomalta #malta #chrisfearne #fypmalta🇲🇹 #videomalta ♬ original sound – Lovin Malta
Fearne sounded a triumphant tone about the future of the pandemic, arguing that today’s PL mass meeting to commemorate Workers’ Day should also double up as a celebration of the nation’s victory over the pandemic.
“In the past two years, we always did what science and the numbers told us, prioritising public health through measures, while mitigating the impact of the measures,” he said.
“Seeing as we did well and had a very high vaccination rate and efficient vaccination system, we have reached the end of the pandemic. Today’s celebration isn’t just for Workers’ Day but for the victory over COVID-19.”
This isn’t the first time Fearne has announced an end to the pandemic. In June 2020, he infamously said that Malta had “won the war” against COVID-19, only to reintroduce several restrictions, including a quasi-lockdown, a few months later.
However, this time there is a real sense of global optimism that the worst is over, with even the US’ chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci recently stating that the United States is “out of the pandemic phase”.
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