COVID-19: HPA to commence antibody testing in upcoming week

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Monday, revealed that antibody testing would begin within the upcoming week.

Antibody testing, or serology testing, determines whether an individual has developed antibodies against COVID-19 after having being infected with the virus in the past.

The testing effort will be led by the Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC) in collaboration with the Maldives National University (MNU).

Speaking at a press conference, HEOC's spokesperson Dr Nazla Rafeeq disclosed that all necessary preparations were complete and that the initial focus would be on school-age children.

Dr Nazla had previously affirmed that a considerable amount of samples must be collected to accurately judge the level of immunity in the community.

In September, ADK Hospital conducted antibody tests on 3,000 frontline workers and found that 125 individuals were confirmed to have antibodies.

Maldives currently records a total of 10,943 virus cases of which 1,118 are active cases, in addition to 9,783 recoveries and 35 deaths.

During August, authorities tightened the safety measures implemented in the Greater Male' region, following an alarming upsurge of COVID-19 cases after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers fell to two-digits during the most part of September. Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to over 89 percent.

Despite the sustained decrease in virus cases, HPA has renewed calls for citizens to adhere to protective measures to contain the spread of the virus, cautioning against a public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”.

On March 12, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 38.1 million people and claimed over 1 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 28.6 million people have recovered.