First COVID-19 case confirmed in Malta

The first case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Malta, Health Minister Chris Fearne said Saturday.

The patient is a 12-year-old Italian girl who lives in Malta. She had visited northern Italy in late February and early March with her family, before returning to Malta.

The girl had been in self-quarantine at home as instructed, until her symptoms started showing on Thursday. Currently, the girl, her sister and parents are in an isolation unit at Malta's main public hospital.

Health authorities are now tracing who the girl and her family could have been in recent contact with.