The Nationalist Party has criticised plans to gradually restart social events as of July 5 with limited capacities, saying the measures announced on Friday are of no help to the entertainment sector. 

“Anybody who knows the sector knows that the measures announced by the government make no financial sense for artists or stakeholders,” PN MP Karl Gouder said. 

“The PN believes that with the number of vaccinated people rising and with strict controls on who is allowed to enter the country, a balance concerning the number of people attending activities that protects people’s health while also helping artists could have been achieved,” he added. 

Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Friday that seated events in controlled places can resume as of July 5, subject to strict regulations and restrictions. They include a maximum capacity of 100 attendees, rising to 200 over a four-week period, and a requirement that only people with a vaccine certificate be allowed in. 

Children, pregnant women and others unable to take a COVID-19 vaccine will have to present a recent negative virus test in order to attend. 

The plan was criticised by the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association, which said on Friday that the sector was being discriminated against and that the restrictions made organising events unfeasible unless they were subsidised by the government. 

In his statement on Saturday, PN MP Gouder urged the government to meet entertainment stakeholders to reach a “reasonable agreement” on how the sector could gradually resume activites, as it had done with other sectors. 

Malta allowed bars to reopen for the first time in seven months this week, in the latest phase of its reopening plan. Cinemas and theatres have also resumed activities, as have contact sports for peopled aged 17 and older.