Health Minister Chris Fearne will hold a press conference at 7:45pm this evening amid reports that a COVID-19 coronavirus patient has died, Lovin Malta is reliably informed.

The patient is believed to be an elderly Gozitan woman. It is unknown at this stage whether her death was due to COVID-19 or another complication.

Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci confirmed the case in her daily press briefing yesterday, stating that all the necessary precautionary measures have been taken to prevent an outbreak at the elderly home.

“Elderly homes have been taking precautions for a while and the fact that we’ve only had one case so far shows that the measures are working,” she said.

If her death is confirmed to be the result of COVID-19, it would be Malta’s first COVID-19 death since the pandemic hit the island last month. A total of 299 cases have been confirmed so far and five patients have officially recovered.