Updated 6pm with President's statement below -

No new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Malta over the past 24 hours, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Sunday.

It is the first time in more than six weeks that there have been no fresh coronavirus cases confirmed in the daily updates from the authorities. 

The announcement marks a milestone in the fight against coronavirus in Malta, which reported its first case on March 7. 

Fearne also announced that 33 more people have recovered when he addressed a news conference. 

He said Malta had demonstrated its robust health service and how well prepared it was for COVID-19 with widespread testing and contact tracing and quarantine measures for those at risk of infection.

"Our aim has always been not to have a river, not a tsunami of cases," he said.

He said that ultimately the success of the current situation was down to the people, who had shown themselves to be responsible and disciplined.

The sacrifices of the past six to seven weeks were paying off, and one could now look forward, in the coming days, but not today, to lift some of the partial lockdown he said.  

Since last month all non-essential shops have been closed, flights shut down, groups of more than three people banned and the elderly and vulnerable ordered to stay indoors. 

All commercial flights have been grounded in Malta since March 21. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Some measures would be withdrawn gradually on the basis of scientific advice and evidence to ensure that what had been achieved was not undone, he said. 

Fearne stressed that measures which were kept in pace had to be rigorously observed. 

The authorities would be careful about the risk of a second wave of COVID-19. "We managed to avoid a tsunami. We now want to make sure that the second wave is turned into a ripple," he said. 

Fearne said testing remained very important. Although no new case had been detected over the past 24 hours, other cases might crop up in the future and all those having symptoms must phone 111 and come forward to be tested.

For the time being, he said, the advice remained to stay at home.

448 cases so far

The superintendent of public health, Charmaine Gauci, said Malta had so far detected 448 cases after 28,000 tests. 

The number of recoveries had increased sharply (282) and now 162 active cases remained.  

She warned that there was no evidence that former patients were now immune. 

In other details, she said 60 per cent of patients were male and 40 per cent female. The biggest age bracket was between 20-35. There were few elderly people among the patients and therefore few admissions to intensive care.

In the distribution of cases by region, the biggest was in the North Harbour region. 

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Replying to questions, Fearne cautioned that despite the good news, the epidemic was still very much ongoing and not all measures would be eased immediately.

When asked by Times of Malta whether public health authorities would consider introducing blind testing in the community, the minister said that at no point would testing be made mandatory but an app would shortly be made available to help people with symptoms identify whether or not they are at risk of contracting the virus.

He said that people exhibiting symptoms or those who could have potentially come into contact with the virus should call the 111 hotline and make an appointment to be tested.

Rapid testing kits for COVID-19 currently on the market were not reliable, Fearne said, but authorities were monitoring further developments in the technology.

Asked whether Malta was informed of any updates in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gauci said that three institutions in the UK had merged resources and were in the process of beginning human trials on a vaccine. 

Gauci said authorities were following the outcomes of these trials and had registered their interest to participate when the option became a possibility.

President welcomes announcement

President George Vella in a statement welcomed the health minister's announcement but cautioned that the battle is not over yet.

He thanked all those on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19 and also showed his appreciation to the people for having followed the advice of the health authorities. He also expressed his condolences to the families of the four victims of the virus. 

Dr Vella said that the battle is not over but Sunday's announcement should encourage the people to redouble their efforts to overcome the challenges they still faced.