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3 NEWS 11.3.2021 UK variant of COVID-19 accounts for more than 60% of new cases FEBRUARY 2020 was the last relatively normal month for travel to Malta, before the COVID-19 pandemic led to a Eu- rope-wide grounding of aviation. As latest data from Malta Internation- al Airport shows, in February passenger traffic dipped to an all-time low since the airport's reopening to commercial flights in July 2020. Totalling just 27,524 passenger move- ments, February traffic registered a drop of 93.5 per cent over the same month in 2020. Amongst the airport's top 10 mar- kets, the United Kingdom registered the largest drop in passenger numbers as a ban restricting travel between the two countries remained in place. "If the industry is to see the predicted signs of recovery by the start of summer, urgent and coordinated stakeholder ac- tion, which would allow for the safe restart of travel and tourism activities, is needed at national and European levels. While the focus should remain on the effective roll- out of vaccination programmes, other key matters, including health certificates and leveraging mobile technology to enable the reopening of borders, should also be given due importance," said Malta Inter- national Airport CEO Alan Borg. Last February marked a year since Mal- ta International Airport first reported the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, manifested in declining seat load factors (SLF) – particularly on Italian routes – as the demand for air travel started to wane towards the end of the month. With consumer confidence and air travel demand remaining particularly low, seat capacity deployed by airlines in February 2021 was at just 10 per cent of February 2020 levels. Standing at 52.5 per cent, last month's seat load factor showed that just over half the seats available on flights to and from Malta were occupied throughout the month. Rest of Europe In February 2020 there were many high-frequency connections in the Eu- ropean network: 157 short- and medi- um-haul airport pairs had 12 or more flights per day. Tehse connections were largely domestic, or between major cap- ital cities: Madrid-Rome, London-Stock- holm, for example. Busiest, with more than 35 flights per day, were Berlin-Frankfurt and routes be- tween the Canary Islands. With COVID-19, priorities have changed. As they clambered out of the first lockdown, airlines attempted to re- store broad networks even if it could only be done at low daily frequencies. is winter, with a second wave of lockdown, not even that minimum connectivity could be maintained. In February 2021, only 29 routes reached the 12 per day threshold. e highest-frequency connections were on domestic routes, such as Paris-Toulouse, Istanbul-Antalya, or in between Canary Islands. Indeed, this focus on domestic routes is evident across the February 2021 map. Madrid-Gran Canaria had a more frequent service this year than last, so ap- pears in only the February 2021 map. Two international routes stand out in February 2021: Kyiv-Sharm el Sheikh, mixing leisure charter and scheduled flights; and the core Air France-KLM link between Paris/Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam/Schiphol, boosted a little by cargo from FedEx and others. Airport February traffic down 93% over 2020 FROM PAGE 1 Restaurants and ancillary services within hotels will also close, with guests only be- ing able to order room service. Non-urgent operations at Mater Dei are postponed. e new measures will be in force until 11 April. Businesses who will have to close because of the new measures will benefit from the full government wage subsidy. "e aim of these measures is first and foremost to ease the pressure on the health services, reduce the spread of infection and increase the rate of vaccination," Abela said. e UK variant of coronavirus was now the predominant virus in Malta, account- ing for more than 60% of new cases. e variant was more infectious, which con- tributed to the surge in cases. e press conference was also addressed by Health Minister Chris Fearne and Pub- lic Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci. Fearne said that 28 patients were receiv- ing treatment for COVID-19 at hospital's intensive care unit (ITU). "e appeal is for people not to con- gregate... this is a very difficult period for everyone but if we all pull the same rope we can come out of this," Fearne said. Earlier e Opposition earlier asked for an ur- gent parliamentary debate on the pandem- ic emergency. Responding, the Prime Minister ac- knowledged that people were worried and government was holding talks all day on the best possible measures. "We were not perfect but we took deci- sions," Abela said. Opposition leader Bernard Grechasked for an urgent parliamentary debate on the COVID-19 crisis in line with Standing Or- ders. e Speaker later ruled that the debate on the COVID-19 situation will be held this morning. Meanwhile, Education Minister Justyne Caruana was also holding emergency talks with the Malta Union of Teachers after the union gave notice of industrial action. 510 cases registered Malta registered a record 510 new COV- ID-19 cases in 24 hours, the health minis- try announced on Wednesday. Active cases stand at 3,182, after two deaths were registered. Two males aged 73 and 64 died at Mater Dei Hospital. 337 deaths have been regis- tered since the start of the pandemic. 361 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 21,838. Total cases stand at 25,357. 4,423 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs to 737,897. New cases account for 12% of the total swab tests carried out. By Wednesday, 105,416 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered. 35,093 of those were second doses. New COVID-19 restrictions All measures are in addition to those already in place and will remain in effect until 11 April, 2021 • Schools to close on Monday and lessons to shift online • Non-essential shops and services closed from today • Elective surgery at Mater Dei Hospital has been postponed • All ancillary services in hotels will be shut • Gozo travel restricted to essential travel and to those who own property there • Public group gatherings will be limited to 4 people • All organised sport activities are suspended • Pools, gyms, museums, theatres and cinemas will close • No weddings can be held • Funerals will continue being held according to existing protocols Elective surgery at Mater Dei Hospital has been postponed until 11 April

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