PN leader Bernard Grech has come out against a COVID-19 measure that forces Maltese residents travelling back from dark-red countries to pay to quarantine in a hotel. 

Anyone who travels from the list of more than 150 countries and regions must get permission from the Superintendent of Public Health and must pay to stay at a quarantine facility, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.

The rules have been in place since July but have come under scrutiny after complaints from Maltese residents and nationals that they have had to pay a €1,400 accommodation fee despite having a property where they could safely quarantine. 

In a Facebook post, the PN leader said measures need to "always be proportional". 

"While it is good that those entering Malta from dark red zones should follow a quarantine period, it is unreasonable that people who have an alternative place to stay end up doing their quarantine in a hotel against a payment," he said.

"These are all unnecessary financial burdens on Maltese families."

He highlighted the case of Rachel Umanah, who has Down Syndrome and whose family are concerned about her ability to handle an unfamiliar closed space. 

"There is an urgent need for transparency when it comes to quarantine and sensitivity from the health authorities," he said.

Grech joins Alex Agius Saliba, a Labour MEP, who also hit out about the rules. 

He said it "does not make sense" to force people who have residences in Malta to quarantine in these hotels.

Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci has made exceptions to the rule, including allowing the national football team to return from dark-red-listed Russia without quarantining. 

She has previously defended the hotel quarantine rule, saying it is necessary to prevent new variants of the virus from entering Malta. 

What countries are in the dark red zone?

The following countries and regions are under the travel ban.

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina,Aruba,Bahamas,Bahrain,Bangladesh,Barbados,Benin,Bermuda,Boliva,Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba,Botswana,Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Columbia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica. Cote d'Ivoire, Curacao, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Martinique, Mayotte, Mongolia, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia (country), Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Cyprus, Oman, Pakistan. Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Reunion, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Barts, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Maartin (French part), Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten (Dutch part), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor. Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, minor outlying islands of United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British), Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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