VALLETTA. Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Malta has detected the country's first two confirmed cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, Health Minister Chris Fearne said here on Thursday.
Fearne announced new restrictive measures that will enter into force next Monday and said that the country registered a new record of 733 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, likely driven by Omicron.
He insisted that the booster vaccine is effective against the new virus variant and that it remains important for as many people as possible to get a booster shot.
Under the new rules, stand-up events will be banned and only seated events will be allowed from Dec. 27, except for weddings and funerals, where the existing protocols remain in force.
All establishments will have a 1 a.m. curfew. Sports events may continue but without spectators.
From Jan. 17, the vaccination certificates will be valid for three months only after the second dose and for nine months after the booster.
From that day, the country's bars, snack bars, restaurants, clubs, gyms, pools, spas, casinos, gaming parlors, cinemas, theaters, sporting events and organized events will only be accessible to people with a valid vaccination certificate.
Charmaine Gauci, Malta's superintendent of public health, told journalists that 7,000 swab tests were carried out on Wednesday, and that most of the new infections were detected in persons who had not taken a booster shot.
Almost a quarter of the new cases could be linked to pre-Christmas social events and to home gatherings and workplaces where the social distancing rule and mask wearing were not enforced. Enditem