Prime Minister Robert Abela made the bold claim on Sunday that Malta was the most successful country in the world in its battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Today, from 500 cases we have gone down to 90. On which island, in which country are there 90 cases? Nowhere, and this is testament to our success”, Abela said during an interview on Labour Party media. 

A press release by the Labour Party placed emphasis on the Prime Minister's claim.

The numbers, however, tell a different story. 

In Europe alone, using Abela’s same metric to gauge success, Malta’s ranks 18th when comparing the number of active cases per 1,000 people, to adjust the ratio of active cases to population size.

Even when looking at the number of active cases without factoring in population size, nine other countries or islands across Europe had fewer than the 93 active cases Malta was reporting as of Sunday.

The Faroe Islands, for example, can count themselves as COVID-19 free, having reported no active cases on Sunday. 

Montenegro, which has a larger population than Malta, was only reporting four cases. 

Naturally, these figures do not account for the rate of testing for the virus in each country - the more widespread testing is, the more likely cases are to be found - but they are enough to debunk Abela’s bold claim, even at a glance.

Malta is testing extensively and has one of the world's best rates of testing per capita. Iceland, however, is testing even more extensively than Malta and still has fewer active cases - just six. 

Looking at the global totals of active cases, Malta ranks in 77th place, behind countries with much larger populations like New Zealand and China. 

However, doubts exist about the reliability of the case reporting from China, where the virus is believed to have originated from. 

Malta has taken an incremental approach to limiting the transmission of COVID-19. 

As the number of imported cases began to grow in March, the government initially introduced a 14-day quarantine period for all arrivals, effectively killing off the tourism industry. 

Days later, the authorities went a step further by suspending all flights in and out of the island, bar repatriation and cargo flights. 

Schools remain suspended until September, but other measures such as the forced closure of non-essential shops are gradually being lifted following a decrease in the amount of COVID-19 cases being detected. 

The World Health Organisation's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said in March that Malta was on the right track and an example to follow. 

Recent announcements about lifting certain restrictions put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 has attracted criticism that the government is now prioritising the economic recovery over people's health. 

Opposition leader Adrian Delia went one further on Sunday, accusing Abela of undermining the work done by his former leadership rival, Health Minister Chris Fearne.