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Leading Maltese Virologist Says It Could Take Up To ‘Five Months’ Until Malta Is Clear From Coronavirus

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One of Malta’s most prominent doctors and virus experts has spoken about a potential timeframe for the COVID-19 virus to leave the island for good.

In an interview on TVM’s Dissett, Dr Chris Barbara spoke about the preparations Maltese health authorities have taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus. He went on to explain the importance of appropriate and well-planned time frames in battling viruses, and that it could be about five months before Malta stabilises itself with regards to public health.

He explained the importance of “flattening” the peaks of when the virus hits Maltes people, saying it would be better to lengthen the time the virus is on the island alongside appropriate preventative measure as opposed to having a massive influx of ill people and a spike of cases that the Maltese health system couldn’t handle.

“We have done our studies and seen what happens in other countries, we even have our own Maltese doctor in Wuhan,” Barbara said, before going on to say that Malta “unfortunately needs to learn from what happened to others… right now we are studying what’s happening in Italy”.

Saying they weren’t “prophets, Barbara said a team of doctors were doing constant “modelling” in an attempt to forecast the life of the new virus in Malta – but he said it all depends on what the community does that determines how long it lasts.

Saying we need to do our homework, he thanked Maltese healthcare professionals for being prepared and planning ahead.

“They are looking out for that peak of cases,” he said. “But if we prepare for the peak from now and try to flatten it a bit more, we can bring the numbers down during the worse period. We can then lengthen the time it lasts so instead of three months it lasts to four or five months, but in that way then we can give attention to all patients and save the life of each person.”

He ended by noting that in “80 out of 100 COVID-19 cases, the person will get a normal cold, will not need to go to the hospital and will recover by themselves.”

What do you think of Dr Barbara’s forecast?

READ NEXT: The First Person Has Recovered From The Coronavirus In Malta

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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