102-year-old woman recovers from COVID-19 after 20-day hospitalization in Italy

GENOA, Italy -- A 102-year-old woman in Italy recovered from COVID-19 after spending 20 days in the hospital.

Italica Grondona's doctors said they nicknamed her "Highlander - the Immortal." They said she represents a hope for "all the elderly facing this pandemic."

SEE ALSO: Italy has world's highest coronavirus deaths total, recording 1,000 deaths in just 1 day

Grondona was hospitalized at the beginning of March with heart failure related to COVID-19. She left the hospital on March 26 and will spend time in a care facility to fully recover.

According to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 death rate is currently between 4-5 percent with the highest rate of fatalities coming from older patients.

The doctors said Grondona is the only person they know of who might have gone through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918/1919 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Spanish flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.