Lithuania and Latvia have announced they will impose a two-week quarantine on travellers arriving from Malta in light of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases.

Besides Malta, Lithuania’s updated ‘black list’ includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.

Meanwhile, Latvia’s ‘red list’ also includes Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden.

Malta’s active COVID-19 cases have spiked to 150 in recent days, largely due to two clusters from a hotel takeover party and the Santa Venera festa celebrations, as well as several irregular migrants testing positive for the virus after they were rescued by Malta.

Since then, the government has announced new restrictions to limit event sizing while the doctors’ and nurses’ unions are set to strike on Monday to demand stricter measures.

Meanwhile, the Malta Association for Hotels and Restaurants has urged the government to adopt a “balanced approach”, warning that thousands of jobs will be put at high risk if the tourism sector receives a blow.

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