The government is this week expected to announce the first easing of the COVID-19 restrictive measures, but sources say ministers and government advisers are still split on when and how to reopen businesses.

For the first time since the breakout of COVID-19 cases in Malta, no new cases were reported on Sunday. The number of new cases in previous days had been in single digits.

Sources privy to the internal discussions on lifting the restrictions told Times of Malta that, so far, ministers had only agreed on “minimal changes” to the containment measures.  

“At this point we have agreed on changes that do not have that much of a major impact on the way people are living their lives, such as the reintroduction of elective surgeries at hospital,” a government source said.  The source later added that decisions on when to allow groups of larger than three people to gather, and when to open bars, restaurants and other businesses were still being discussed internally.   

One possibility, the source said, was to start reopening businesses as soon as the first week of May.

This was an idea being backed by Economy Minister Silvio Schembri, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli, and, to a lesser extent, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna. 

The source added that on the other side of the argument was Health Minister Chris Fearne who insiders say has been given a “leading role” in decisions, related to managing the coronavirus outbreak, by Prime Minister Robert Abela.

The health authorities, another source said, have taken a “conservative position” when it comes to the possibility of rekindling the economy. 

While this was clearly intended to prioritise public health, the critics within government say that stalling the economic recovery for too long could also have negative repercussions. 

Ultimately, the source said, the decision would be taken by the prime minister, who sources said had stayed out of the ministerial deliberations so far in the hope that stakeholders will find a compromise without his direct involvement. 

“Robert [Abela] ultimately took the decision not to go for a full lockdown, and to go for the approach that, you can say looking back, seems to have worked.

“Now it will fall to him, after listening to different sides of the argument, to decide which course of action to take,” the source said, adding that now a first announcement on easing of measures is expected by the middle of this week. 

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Abela on Sunday gave a hint of the restrictions dilemma, when he told Labour supporters that the government was trying to find a middle ground between ensuring public safety and the livelihoods of the entire population.  He told radio listeners that the government was trying to find an easing timeline that was “not too soon, but not too late either”.

This Goldilocks formula – a concept referring to the girl in the fairy tale preferring porridge that was neither too hot nor too cold – was being settled on for the best interests of all involved.   Meanwhile, the health authorities yesterday announced that since the first day when Malta recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 7, no new infections had been confirmed from testing.