Health Protection Agency confirmed early Sunday, the second Maldivian to test positive whilst placed in quarantine.
The person tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon return to the country from the United Kingdom and was quarantined at the facility located on Royal Island Resort, Baa Atoll.
The first Maldivian to test positive for the novel coronavirus was identified on Friday. The individual had also returned to the country from the United Kingdom and was placed upon arrival on March 22 at the quarantine facility in Holiday Island Resort.
After showing coronavirus-like symptoms the person was tested on March 25, and the positive results were received on March 26. Since then, the person was moved to the quarantine facility in Velidhoo, Alif Alif Atoll.
With this new development, Maldives now has 17 confirmed and six active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 11 recoveries. While there are two confirmed cases of Maldivians, no local to local transmissions are recorded.
Speaking to the press on Friday, Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen stated that the situation has not reached ‘community spread’ stage; the infection is not considered to be spreading among the Maldivian community.
Nevertheless, the minister added that authorities are working under the assumption that the virus may be present within the community and urged the citizens to obey the current safety measures put in place by the government.
Currently, 20 people are placed in isolation facilities, while 824 are in quarantine facilities. As a preventative measure, HPA has ordered authorities to halt on-arrival visas from March 27 onwards. Furthermore, all inbound locals or visa holders will be placed under observation at a designated facility for a period of 14 days.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 664, 000 people and claimed over 30,800 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 142, 000 people have recovered.
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Source URL: Google News
