Introducing new restrictive COVID-19 measures last week was one of the hardest moments of the pandemic to date, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday. Speaking during a political interview on the Labour Party’s ONE media arm, Abela said ordering the closure of thousands of businesses had been a painful but necessary decision which he had not taken lightly. Last week the government ordered a one-month closure of all non-essential businesses, services and schools. People were also barred from meeting in groups larger than four and all organised sports activities have been cancelled. The move came as Malta registered a record of more than 500 daily COVID-19 cases. This was the second time since the initial outbreak of the pandemic that the government has ordered a soft lock down in a bid to stub out spiraling positive cases. Abela said that while introducing new measures had been a tough decision, he had done so following discussions with health authorities. He had also done so knowing that the government would be rolling out support in the form of wage supplements and other injections. “We will continue to help those ordered to close or had their business limited...