Malta will close all bars, restaurants, gyms, casinos, cinemas and bingo halls as of tomorrow, Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced.

Restaurants will still be able to provide deliveries to people’s homes..

The Prime Minister’s decision, intended to ensure as much social distancing as possible, comes shortly after Malta confirmed its first three locally transmitted cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

He said these new measures, recommended by the public health authorities, are intended to slow down the rate of new coronavirus cases and will hopefully prevent the government from imposing a total lockdown.

More to follow