Valletta’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are going ahead, despite similar events in Europe being cancelled due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
“NYE celebrations will go ahead as planned with all health and safety protocols in place as discussed and agreed upon with the local authorities including closing off St George’s Square to accommodate a very limited crowd in separate clusters with social distancing in place,” Valletta Cultural Agency (VCA) chairman Jason Micallef told Times of Malta.
His comments came after the head of the World Health Organization called on nations to cancel all New Year events.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it was better to “celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later”.
“We have to focus now on ending this pandemic,” Ghebreyesus said.
While the Omicron variant has still not been detected in Malta, the health authorities are expecting it to be identified very soon.
on Tuesday, health authorities said they had traced 386 new cases of infection, the second-highest daily total in the country since the virus outbreak.
Last year, the annual Valletta New Year’s Eve celebrations did not take place but, instead, a ‘NYE Valletta Variety Show’ was televised live from Fort St Elmo.
This time round, entrance to the end-of year celebrations, organised by the Valletta Cultural Agency, is free of charge but subject to tickets which can be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tickets can be collected from the VCA premises in Republic Street, Valletta. One person is entitled to a maximum of four tickets.
British singer John Newman will entertain those present at St George’s Square and, as in previous years, the entertainment will be aired live on local television stations starting at 10.30 pm on New Year’s Eve.
Times of Malta called VCA on Tuesday and the person who answered the telephone said that the standing event has seven different zones to ensure social distancing restrictions are kept in place.
“It is confirmed that the event is taking place but, of course, we continuously keep an eye out for new restrictions. We are following the current protocols where people must wear masks and provide a vaccine certificate,” the receiver said.
On Tuesday, the Nationalist Party cancelled Bernard Grech’s public greetings with the public in view of the rising number of cases of COVID-19.
In a post on Facebook, the party said the event was being cancelled as a sign of responsibility.
Elsewhere, Paris has cancelled its New Year’s firework display and, earlier this week, London’s NYE celebrations in Trafalgar Square were also cancelled due to the increase in the cases of virus infection.
Scotland also cancelled its large-scale New Year’s Eve celebrations in Edinburgh.