Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela has once again excluded the possibility of a lockdown for the Maltese Islands to control the current pandemic situation.

During press question time posed by TVM following a business breakfast event in Gozo, Abela reiterated what was said in Parliament last night, that increasing fines for those who break current measures is being looked at in order to ensure that locals are indeed observing the mitigation measures in place.

The Prime Minister excluded the possibility of a lockdown once again despite certain pressures that have been made. "I continue to believe that the decision should be not to enter lockdown and maintain a balance between health and people's livelihood."

"Let's understand also that there are a number of people whose livelihood depends on their commercial establishments remaining open and therefore in the measures that we will be announcing, we will make sure that the balance that is so essential will remain in place without introducing draconian measures, rather effective measures that will keep the situation under control from a medical point of view," Abela concluded.

Discussion surrounding the measures will continue this afternoon and updates are expected soon.