The low number of COVID-19 cases currently in hospital confirms that "the situation is under control" despite rocketing tallies of daily new infections, Robert Abela has said.
Speaking on Labour's ONE radio, the prime minister admitted the pandemic remained an "ever-changing struggle" but said the vaccines were leaving their mark and making a difference.
As of Saturday, there were 17 patients in hospital, with only one requiring intensive care.
The COVID-19 vaccines, he said, left authorities in a better position than they were when they had to deal with similar spikes in cases before people were inoculated against the virus.
Malta has administered over 721,400 doses of the vaccines so far, with 355,883 people now fully vaccinated.
Despite this, the opening up to travel earlier in July meant the island was dealing with an increase in new cases, with over 1,642 active cases currently detected.
PM praises Wied Fulija transformation
Moving on to other issues, Abela reflected on a number of the events that took place throughout the week, including the inauguration of the Wied Fulija project. The Wied Fulija rubbish dump in Żurrieq was transformed into an open space covered in 43,000 shrubs and trees.
"What a beautiful project – Wied Fulija. I was very happy when we inaugurated it. This project is another confirmation that the environment is a priority for this government. The environment is this country’s future. We've included it in all our plans for the next decade, be it the financial plan as well as the post-COVID one," Abela said.
'Opposition does not want to contribute'
The prime minister also criticised the Opposition for what he said is a "refusal to work with the government to improve Malta's reputation".
"The Opposition does not want to give its contribution to improve Malta’s reputation. Despite this, we will continue carrying out reforms," he said, referring to a law in parliament that failed to pass through because of the Opposition's vote.
A constitutional amendment that would have enabled the government to forge ahead with a plan to hand public entities the power to impose much larger fines than they can right now was defeated in parliament on Wednesday.
The Bill needed a two-thirds majority to be approved but the Opposition declared at the outset that it would vote against, insisting that as the constitution laid down, it should only be independent courts and tribunals which handed out penalties of this nature, not government-appointed authorities.