The Maltese man who contracted Covid-19 while he was in India with his wife to finalise details for the adoption of a baby girl has passed away.
The Health Ministry confirmed in a statement on Friday that the 47-year-old, who was expected to arrive in Malta on an air ambulance tonight, had passed away.
The man has now been identified as notary Ivan Barbara. He was in India with his wife to finalise the adoption of a baby girl from the country.
He developed complications only minutes before boarding the aircraft, and died minutes after being transferred onto the plane.
The couple contracted Covid-19 while they were making final arrangements to return to Malta, and the man’s condition took a turn for the worse last week, with doctors considering putting him in an induced coma at one point.
His condition had improved slightly, but the situation remained serious – especially as Indian hospitals run out of oxygen to use for ventilators.
The man was at the Manavta Hospital outside New Delhi.
He was set to be flown to Malta on an air ambulance contracted from France which is equipped with a ventilator.
The situation when the couple had travelled to India to complete the procedure to adopt the girl was still under control, but it has since deteriorated rapidly, especially after the emergence of a double mutant variant of the virus.