The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), on Friday, confirmed that a 65-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 while under transit quarantine at the Equator Village Quarantine Facility in Gan, Addu Atoll.
Speaking at a press conference held at NEOC, President's Office's Undersecretary Mabrouq Abdul Azeez stated that the woman was among the first individuals permitted to complete the 14-day quarantine period at the destination island after travelling from the capital city of Male'.
He further disclosed that the woman's granddaughter tested negative for the virus despite being quarantined in the same room.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) assured that the case did not equate to a community spread in Addu as the individual was under quarantine at the time her results were confirmed.
A number of locals from various atolls across the archipelago found themselves stranded in the capital after the government implemented a city-wide lockdown after its first case of COVID-19 was reported on April 15.
Authorities have since begun issuing clearance for people with pressing needs to leave Male' and return to their home islands provided that a 14-day quarantine period is completed.
Although the government removed travel restrictions between islands with no confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, limitations remain in place for islands with positive cases.
Maldives presently records a total of 1,977 confirmed cases, out of which 814 are active cases of COVID-19. The country records 1,153 recoveries and eight deaths.
WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 7.6 million people and claimed over 424,300 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 3.8 million people have recovered.
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