Hoandehdhoo's Health Centre, on Thursday night, revealed that COVID-19 cases in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll's Hoandehdhoo hit 44 after two additional infections were confirmed on the island.
The Health Protection Agency has now confirmed a community spread in Hoandehdhoo, marking the only other community spread in Maldives outside of the Greater Male' region.
According to Hoandehdhoo's Health Centre, 36 of the 44 positive cases are receiving treatment on the island while two additional patients have been transferred to the isolation facility in Gaafu Alif Vilingili.
Moreover, the facility noted that individuals are quarantined in 32 Hoadehdhoo households.
Authorities have confirmed over 100 contacts in the island with a population of 1300, while 346 samples have been collected till date.
As a precautionary measure, HPA has placed Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll's Madaveli, connected to Hoandehdhoo via a causeway, under monitoring as well.
Although random sampling was conducted on Madaveli, no positive cases have been identified on the island as of yet.
Maldives currently records a total of 9,494 virus cases of which 1,422 are active cases, in addition to 8,933 recoveries and 33 deaths.
During last month, 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
Authorities have stated that the effects of implementing stricter measures will be reflected in the case numbers towards the end of the month.
After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers have slipped down to two-digits during the past seven days.
As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives' capital Malé continues to record a significant number of COVID-19 cases, similar to the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15.
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