COVID-19: Bars, clubs to remain closed, Robert Abela says

Bars and village social clubs will remain closed in December the Prime Minister has indicated when asked about the one-month forced closure that expires next week.

Robert Abela said this morning that after a meeting with the health authorities it was decided that the forced closure will be extended for “the coming weeks”.

Bars and social clubs were forced to shut at the end of October as Malta grappled with a growing second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Since the decision, Malta has registered an average of 120 new cases of coronavirus per day.

Abela said given the amount of new cases and not to put the country’s health services under stress, the legal notice ordering the closure will be extended.

“It’s not worth taking the risk to compromise the health services when a COVID-19 vaccine is around the corner,” Abela said on Wednesday.