Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1275149
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 AUGUST 2020 NEWS Delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspapers per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@ millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Dis- tributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Airport Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other news- papers and magazines, contact production@millermal- ta.com maltatoday Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday MaltaToday Midweek • €1 BusinessToday • €1.50 Sunday MaltaToday • €1.95 ILLUM • €1.25 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr Partit Demokratiku and Alternattiva Demokratika formally arrived at an agreement to merge the two parties into one yesterday, 1 August. "This is the culmination of months of discussions and joint political action between the two parties," AD secretary-general Ralph Cassar said. Amidst a national climate of division and fragmentation, both AD and PD said they fully recognise the country's need for concerted political action which finds "common ground for the good of the entire country rather than polarisation for factional and partisan ends." The party is to be named AD/PD. The next few weeks will see both parties function as a united executive via a transition team. The parties aim to finalise the process and merge into a single legal entity in the coming weeks, upon which a new executive will be nominated at the first AGM of the merged party which is currently scheduled to be held by no later than September 2020. Alternattiva and PD announce merger PAUL COCKS FOUR venues catering to mass events – two of them in Pace- ville – were shut down on Fri- day, as authorities enforced new regulations introduced this week in a bid to curtail a new spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, MaltaToday has learned. The venues were forced to shut down after health authorities traced a tourist who has tested positive to coronavirus to the four establishments. The inspec- tors ordered the venues to carry out a full sanitation exercise and to provide detailed certification from the company carrying out the sanitation. Only one of the venues provid- ed the certification requested and was allowed to reopen. The other three remained closed until they provide the requested documen- tation. Party organisers and promoters, wedding planners and venues, party venues – even large bars and restaurants – have been left with more questions than an- swers after new measures were introduced this week. The measures left many organ- isers and venues unclear as to what precautions they actually need to take, with many feeling that the new regulations are sim- ply government's way of putting an end to mass events without ac- tually admitting to doing so. On Thursday evening, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne ap- peared alongside Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gau- ci and announced a number of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 at mass events. As of Friday, he said, village festa marches would be banned. And the number of people in every venue should be limited to one person for every 4sq.m to en- sure social distancing and within the venues themselves, groups of more than 10 will not be allowed. Fearne said that people who attend these indoor events will have to leave a contact number for ease of tracing and that or- ganisers would be responsible to ensure these standards are ad- hered to and could risk legal ac- tion if they fail to do so. Venues that can accommodate more than 100 people will have to carry out a risk assessment prior to going ahead with the event. Fearne insisted that events in which organisers cannot guar- antee adherence to the standards will not be allowed to go ahead. He added that inspectors will be ensuring that the standards are adhered to. But these measures have left many organisers and venue own- ers unclear as to how to go about organising mass events, especial- ly those in the open which would be impossible to control the in- flux of people or enforce social distancing measures. Philip Fenech, deputy president of the Malta Chamber of SMEs, told MaltaToday that such was the extent of the confusion sown by the new measures, that he was organising an information meet- ing for all interested parties to try and answer the many ques- tions that the new measures have raised. The meeting, which is to be held tomorrow at 3pm at Westin Dragonara Resort, will be address by the CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, Johann Buttigieg, the MTA's head of enforcement, Da- vid Mifsud, and Fenech himself. Fenech said that a vast majority of the industry players recognised the need for protocols and regu- lation. "Most had been following those protocols ever since the ban on mass events was lifted," he said. "Unfortunately, there were a couple of owners and promoters who, possibly misguided by the mixed messages being delivered at all levels, felt they no longer needed to practice caution at cer- tain mass events." Fenech said proper regulations required the cooperation of both the venue or organiser as well as the general public attending such events. Paceville venues shut down over breach of rules on mass events Philip Fenech, deputy president of the Chamber of SMEs, said he will meet club owners on Monday to discuss the new rules "A couple of owners and promoters, possibly misguided by the mixed messages being delivered at all levels, felt they no longer needed to practice caution"