During today's COVID-19 press briefing, the Superintendent of Public Health Prof. Charmaine Gauci addressed the reopening of several non-essential establishments and issued guidelines for shoppers and shop owners to follow.

As well as imposing a limit on the number of people allowed in a shop at one go - one per 10m, Prof. Gauci stressed that alcohol rubs must be made available for customers prior to entering the shop in order to prevent contamination. As well as wearing masks, customers are advised not to touch shop items unless necessary.

Discussing the decision to cordon off changing rooms, Prof. Gauci said: "Retail shops have been classified as low or medium risk as long as mitigation measures are duly implemented. A changing room is a small room, where if someone who has symptoms walks in and contaminates the area, and then someone else comes in after, a high chance of transmission is created," she explained.

Should customers prefer to try on clothes before purchasing, Prof. Gauci suggested that: "...should the shop owner agree, clothes can be taken home and tried on there. If items are returned, these must be kept in quarantine for 72 hours," she said.

Asked by journalists whether these measures would be legally enforced, Prof. Gauci confirmed that inspections will be carried out in order to ensure shops are abiding by regulations and customers and owners kept safe.

Prof. Gauci reiterated an earlier appeal and asked all those who will be visiting shops, be it groceries or retail, to wear masks: "Masks are available, so there is no excuse not to wear one," she insisted, adding that despite there being no need to do so before, recent risk assessments carried out by health authorities have pointed for them to be implemented.

She continued to warn that the reopening of non-essential retail shops should not induce the public to liase with people and stroll around shops unnecessarily: "We didn't take extreme measures such as a full lockdown. We managed to avoid this together. Let's continue working together," she said.