“We have grown together to be stronger in fighting this pandemic,” she said.

The Ġieħ ir-Repubblika was bestowed upon Gauci along with Mater Dei’s pathology department head Christopher Barbara, Mater Dei’s infectious disease department Charles Mallia Azzopardi, and lead respiratory consultant Stephen Montefort, during a Republic Day ceremony held over the weekend.

The decision to honour these public figures did not bode well with the head of the nurses union, Paul Pace, who claimed that it should have been awarded to all hospitals instead.

“There are people on the ground who aren’t public figures but who are consistently striving and performing miracles,” he said.

However, Gauci made it clear that this honour belonged not just to herself but to everyone on the front line fighting the virus.

“I dedicate this award to the public health COVID-19 team, all healthcare workers, front liners, our families and all the patients,” she said.

Gauci delivered daily press briefings at the start of the pandemic, with her calm and reassuring tone and her repeated health advice earning her plaudits among the Maltese public.

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