Travellers from Malta will no longer be allowed to enter Lithuania, because of the rise in COVID-19 cases on the island.

Two other countries, Estonia and Latvia say that any visitors from the island must self-quarantine for two weeks.

According to media reports, while visitors are banned, returning Lithuanian citizens and residents will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

The travel ban imposed as from Monday by the Baltic country also applies to Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Croatia, where the infection rate over the past two weeks has exceeded 25 people per 100,000.

The decision to include Malta in the country’s ‘blacklist’ might change after analysing the impact of rescued migrants with COVID-19 on the country’s coronavirus rates, the Baltic Times quoted Lithuania’s top epidemiologist Loreta Asokliene.

Out of Malta’s current 199 active cases, 85 patients are migrants brought to Malta after being rescued at sea last week. 

Countries are put on Lithuania’s blacklist if they record 16 coronavirus cases per population of 100,000 over the past two weeks.

A statement from Estonia's foreign ministry said that people arriving from Malta, as well as 17 other countries will have to quarantine for two weeks "based on the coronavirus infection rate".

Ireland uses a similar method to boot destinations off its ‘green list’.

It is being reported that restrictions could soon be set on travel from Malta, as countries need to have a transmission rate that is the same as Ireland's or even lower if they are to qualify for its green list.

Ireland’s rate is also rising and stands at 6.7, but it still more than four times smaller than that of Malta, which has recorded a rate of 28.4 for the past two weeks.

Last week, Latvia added Malta to a ‘red list’ after advising against travel to any country with a rate higher than 20.