Countries cannot afford to repeat the mistake of relaxing COVID-19 measures too early, Health Minister Chris Fearne warned on Tuesday.
Speaking in parliament, Fearne acknowledged that the number of new cases in Malta had started to once again go down, as has the positivity rate, though he was quick to warn against relaxing measures too soon.
"Today’s figures are encouraging but we do not look at a single day, as we always do. The positivity rate is down again. Today it’s 3.4 per cent and that’s very good but we cannot relax just because we had a good day or a good week.
"We need to be even more cautious and disciplined now," Fearne said.
The positivity rate is the percentage of positive cases of the total number of tests carried out in a single day.
Looking back at the past year, Fearne said that although a lot of good decisions were taken, there had been "some mistakes" though he did not elaborate what he believed these were.
He did say, however, that one mistake that cannot be repeated is relaxing measures because the numbers have gone down slightly. He said the world is now better equipped with dealing with the pandemic and the measures that come with it.
"This is what happened, all over the world. Yes, we took a lot of good decisions, but we also made some mistakes. This was the first time we were dealing with this [the pandemic]. But now, we cannot make the same mistake.
"We cannot repeat mistakes," Fearne said.
The government put the country on quasi-lockdown for a month on March 12, shuttering all non-essential shops and closing schools until April 11.
Fearne did not say whether the government planned to reopen on April 11 as planned or whether it was mulling extending the closure.
Vaccination process - details for under 60s to be announced soon
Meanwhile, Fearne announced the government would soon announce details for those aged between 55 and 59 to get vaccination. Instead of getting invited to get the jab, those in this age groups will be able to register themselves. Details on how to go about this will be unveiled "in the coming days".
The government planned to start vaccinating this age group by end of April and early May, moving down the younger age groups.