Malta’s rate of infection and transmission, known as the R0 factor, for the COVID-19 coronavirus has dropped below one, Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci has confirmed.

This means that every person who contracts COVID-19 in Malta spreads the disease to just below one person on average.

The seasonal flu, for example, has an average R0 of 1. Globally the R0 factor of COVID-19 stands at roughly 2.2.

Gauci was clear that Malta is currently just hovering beneath one and stressed that R0 factor is not a fixed figure and will rise if preventative measures, like social distancing, are not followed.

Gauci has previously told Lovin Malta that the country would need to drop its R0 factor to below 1 for the nation to begin returning to normality. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne yesterday said that some measures could begin being lifted in the coming days.

By declaring a public health emergency, the government has shut down large swathes of industries, all flights, and imposed a three-person limit for groups in public, among a long list of other measures.