Unvaccinated people arriving in Malta will be charged at least €1,400 per room for their stay in a quarantine hotel, the tourism authority has announced.
The measure, which comes into force on Wednesday, applies to anyone who arrives without an approved vaccine certificate.
Those who fail to complete the mandatory quarantine period, which is currently 14 days, face fines of up to €10,000.
It remains unclear if the mandatory hotel quarantine stay also applies to Maltese residents who arrive without a valid certificate.
In a post on Facebook, the Malta Tourism Authority said those coming to the island without the certificate must stay at a hotel and "shall also be subject to a minimum accommodation cost of €1,400".
The notice did not mention whether travellers will be given a choice of hotels although Times of Malta understands this will not be the case.
Few details or clarifications
The quarantine measure came into force after the government backtracked on an earlier decision to only allow travellers who are fully vaccinated into Malta, with a legal notice confirming there will also be an option to quarantine.
Children under 12 and those with a medical reason for not taking the vaccine are exempt and are allowed to travel using a PCR test taken no later than 72 hours from arrival.
Despite the law coming into force on Wednesday, some of the details on the latest measures are still scant. For instance, the authorities have yet to say whether Maltese residents who are not vaccinated will be allowed to quarantine at home or whether they will still have to stay at the designated hotels.
Times of Malta has contacted the Tourism Ministry for a clarification on the matter and has been asked to send queries via email.
The social media post outlining the details. Photo:MTAThe latest measures are part of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the number of new cases detected continues to spike.
On Wednesday, the authorities said they detected 218 new cases overnight, one of the highest daily tallies in months.