Schools to reopen next week, non-essential shops and services to open on 26 April

Schools will physically reopen their doors as from next week, while non-essential shops and services will be opened as of 26 April.

Addressing a press conference, which can be viewed below, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that education and the elderly will be the priority of the country’s reopening plan as announced today.

Malta has been in a semi-lockdown similar to what it was in last year since the beginning of March, with the measures set to expire on 11 April.

The Prime Minister said that as from 12 April, schools and educational institutions will begin to open.

On 12 April, childcare centres, kindergartens, and primary schools will open.  Two days later – on Wednesday 14 April – middle schools will open, and on Friday 16 April, secondary schools (from Form 3 to Form 5) will open their doors.

Post-secondary educational institutions will remain constrained to online learning.

As from 12 April as well, elective surgeries will once again restart at Mater Dei Hospital, while visits will once again be allowed at elderly care homes.

The Prime Minister said that non-essential shops and services will then reopen on 26 April, and the two-person in public rule will increase to four people as from 26 April as well.

All other measures will remain in place for now with a continued emphasis on enforcement.  Abela said that this is a bi-directional approach, meaning that the measures maybe reversed if pressure on Malta’s hospitals increases again.

The dates for further relaxation of measures will depend on how the circumstances develop, Abela said.

Abela said that 1 June is being targetted as the date for the reopening of tourism in a more pro-active manner, and said that the government has 20 million euros set out for helping bars and restaurants make the most of the summer.