Nearly one month to the day since Malta confirmed its first COVID-19 positive case, the island’s Patient Zero – a 12-year-old Italian girl – has finally recovered, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci confirmed earlier today.

The girl was one of three new recoveries announced yesterday evening by Health Minister Chris Fearne, bringing Malta’s total number of recoveries up to five.

Tomorrow marks exactly one month since the girl became Malta’s first COVID-19 case, with her parents also testing positive and being announced as the next cases the following day. All three had travelled to Northern Italy some weeks before, had self-quarantined upon arrival, and were kept in isolation at Mater Dei went they tested positive.

Since then, Malta has had a total of 241 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 14 new cases being announced today. The first person to recover from COVID-19 in Malta was announced on 13th March.

While four weeks sounds like an awfully long time for recovery, it is important to keep in mind two points.

Firstly, as Profs. Gauci reiterated earlier today, younger people – while usually much less in danger of Coronavirus-related complications – have been observed to take longer to recover from COVID-19.

Moreover, soon after the first two cases of recoveries were confirmed, it was announced that patients would be monitored all throughout, but only tested at the end of a 14-day period. Even then, two separate tests conducted over a day apart would need to be conducted, and a person will only be confirmed as having recovered after both cases come up as negative. This means it’s entirely plausible – but not yet confirmed – that the girl would’ve actually recovered some days ago but was only officially declared as recovered yesterday.

If you believe you are suffering from the Coronavirus, follow these guidelines:

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people, as you would with the flu.

Do not go to Mater Dei, the emergency department, health centres, private clinics, or pharmacies. Stay home and call the public health authority’s helpline 111.

If you are returning from an affected country, do not break self-quarantine rules or you will be subject to a €1,000 fine.

You can call +356 21324086 for advice.

Avoid calling 112 unless it is a real emergency. That emergency line is crucial in saving lives in peril, and having it be flooded with calls on the coronavirus could have fatal consequences.

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