With restaurants, hairdressers, nail salons and beauty salons allowed to re-open as from today, so long as they adhere to social distancing and hygiene protocols, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli was pictured visiting the iconic Caffe Cordina in Valletta.

Over the week, both praise and criticism has been directed towards the Tourism Ministry and health authorities for the short notice with which guidelines were issued. Protocols were issued on Monday, with restaurants allowed to reopen on Friday.

Restaurants would need a COVID-19 compliance sticker displayed on their window in order to be fully in line with the law, however it is understood that a short grace period is being awarded to establishments to become fully compliant.

On Tuesday, a Government COVID-19 bulletin revealed that 157 establishments had already called to have inspectors visit, the first step in acquiring the COVID-19 compliance sticker.

Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli was pictured along with Malta Tourism Authority CEO and Chairman, Johann Buttigieg and Gavin Gulia respectively.

In a social media post, the Minister wrote:

“This is our beloved capital. Malta today comes to life thanks to being able to reopen cafeterias and restaurants. This is our Malta.”

While many have taken to social media to celebrate some semblance of returning to normality, a number of restaurants and cafes have chosen to remain closed for the time being, preferring to focus on take-away and delivery until the situation settles and further clarity is given.

Popular eateries New York Best Bistro, Fat Louie’s and the Star of India have issued statements to say they prefer to take further time to ensure full compliance with the law before reopening to the public.

In addition, medical unions have called for the postponement of reopening restaurants, while business interest groups have stressed that it will not be possible to wait for a vaccine and so a happy and safe medium must be found that looks towards the country’s physical, mental and economic health.