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Malta confirms first novel coronavirus case

According to the country’s Health Minister Chris Fearne, the patient is a 12-year-old girl who returned from Italy

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. The first novel coronavirus case has been confirmed in Malta, the country’s Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Saturday, the Malta Today newspaper reported.

According to the minister, the patient is a 12-year-old girl who returned from Italy on Tuesday. Upon arrival, the girl and members of her family who had accompanied her were quarantined. On Thursday, she began to show the symptoms of the disease.

A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center, in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, describing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Besides China, major coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in South Korea, Iran and Italy. More than 90 countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.