Restart campaign proposes reopening timeline with full capacity from September

The Restart campaign has unveiled its plan for the reopening of Malta’s events industry, which would see events held at 100 per cent venue capacity from the start of September, given that it expects the entire population to be fully vaccinated by August.

Under the proposed timeline, events with various capacities would be permitted to reopen on a staggered basis, depending on the size of the venue.

Before that though, it calls for the withdrawal of a controversial rule banning DJs from performing at recently reopened bars, from 1st June.

Only vaccinated individuals would be allowed to attend these events, with a health officer checking vaccination certificates at the entrance to the venue.

Its proposal comes after Malta reached its 70 per cent vaccine coverage target required for herd immunity.

Although vaccination rates have slowed down in recent days, Malta’s vaccination rollout programme had been roaring ahead, with over 208,000 of Malta’s around 500,000 population having received both doses of a vaccine.

Subsequently, industry bodies, such as Restart and the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) have called for the Government to consider the reopening of the events industry, using measures such as vaccination passports to ensure safety.

They point to the success of test schemes abroad, such as one in the UK, which saw the impact of mass events tests, and encourage a similar system to that which proved successful.

An initial petition launched by Restart has, at the time of writing, received 5,619 signatures.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne gave a glimmer of hope for those calling for vaccination passes to be used for the reopening of events, saying that the facility has been approved by the Cabinet, and would be issued at some point this week.