Updated 8.50am
A Maltese man who contracted the novel coronavirus while in India seeking to seal the process to adopt a baby girl is set to be flown back to Malta on Friday, the flight having been put off by a few hours from Thursday.
Government sources said the man will be taken directly to Mater Dei Hospital’s intensive care unit, where he will be treated in isolation.
The authorities plan a swift transfer from the airport to hospital, meaning the 47-year-old should be at Mater Dei just moments after landing at the airport.
It is understood the critically-ill man’s condition has stabilised enough for him to make the arduous journey back via air ambulance. He will be ventilated and cared for by professionals during the trip.
The man was infected with the virus in Delhi, a city ravaged by COVID-19 and where the situation has spiralled out of medics’ control.
It has yet to be established whether he contracted the so-called Indian variant of COVID-19, although the local health authorities will carry out tests upon arrival.
So far, there have not been any cases of the Indian variant detected in Malta.
The 47-year-old travelled to India with his wife to adopt a baby girl in March and the family subsequently tested positive for the virus earlier this month.
The wife and daughter are expected to return to Malta on the same flight.
At one point last week, doctors considered putting the Maltese man in an induced coma although his condition seems to have improved slightly since and so he was intubated instead.
Yesterday, the government confirmed one of its agencies, Identity Malta, will be covering the costs for the France-contracted air ambulance.
Citizenship junior minister Alex Muscat, under whose remit the agency falls, wished the man a “speedy recovery” ahead of his trip back to the island. “My thoughts are with this Maltese family. Have courage,” Muscat said.
In India, over 300,000 new infections are being detected every day. Doctors in New Delhi have described how people were dying outside hospitals as patients continue to be turned away because of a shortage of beds.