Malta arrivals from Bulgaria, Romania and parts of Spain must, as from Friday, present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight to the island. 

Passengers who do not present such a certificate "can be asked to swab at the Malta International Airport or asked to self-quarantine in Malta upon arrival", the Health and Tourism Ministries said in a joint statement. 

"Passengers arriving from the abovementioned destinations will be required to present a negative result of a swab test carried out within the last 72 hours," the ministries said. 

In the case of Spain, the rules only apply to those arriving from Barcelona, Girona and Madrid. 

The countries/regions have been placed on the so-called ‘amber list’, which will be updated weekly, the government said. 

On whether any other lists will be published, Times of Malta is informed this will not be the case.

A government spokesperson said those countries from which travel is not allowed will continue to be banned while those deemed safe will continue to be considered as such unless there are changes to the amber list. 

On Monday, a series of new curbs were unveiled by Health Minister Chris Fearne as part of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 after a record number of new cases were registered over the weekend. 

As from Wednesday, bars will have to once again close down, while the wearing of masks is now mandatory in all closed public spaces, except for restaurants. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the health authorities confirmed 48 new COVID-19 cases had been detected overnight.