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13.4 percent of Male’ population carry COVID-19 antibodies: Research

Shahudha Mohamed
07 December 2020, MVT 08:59
Frontline workers of Health Protection Agency (HPA) collection random samples from Male’ City streets. PHOTO: MIHAARU
Shahudha Mohamed
07 December 2020, MVT 08:59

Anitbody research led by the Maldives National University (MNU) showed that 13.4 percent of the total population of capital Male’ carry antibodies which react to COVID-19.

Speaking at the Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC)’s media briefing on Sunday night, Maldives National University (MNU)’s Director of Research Dr Raheema Abdul Raheem stated that data collected from the research concluded that 10 percent of the aforementioned individuals are unaware that they ever contracted the virus.

“If the population of Male’ is 208,000, then 38,000 people were exposed to COVID-19”, she said.

According to Raheema, 58 percent of former COVID-19 patients contained antibodies, and the amount of antibodies present are higher in patients who were admitted in hospitals and underwent a longer treatment period.

“However, [research] shows that 42 percent of [former COVID-19 patients] do not carry as much antibodies as they should”, she added.

The research into antibodies also revealed that one out of three expatriate workers in Male’ have contracted the virus till date, while one out of 11 locals were infected.

Therefore, Raheema urged locals to take additional precautionary measures since the chances of Maldivians contracting the virus are higher than that of foreign workers.

As per the research, the highest numbers of antibodies were found in middle-aged adults. Moreover, senior citizens carried more antibodies than experts initially presumed.

Health Protection Agency (HPA)’s epidemiologist Dr Ibrahim Afzal stated in the media briefing that the results of the research are largely in line with the hopes of field experts.

Hence, he announced that no amendments will be made to the current safety measures set in place.

Maldives currently records a total of 13,198 virus cases of which 823 are active cases, in addition to 13,198 recoveries and 47 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. Throughout October the numbers had slipped further down below 50, with a few spikes on rare occasions, including the spikes in November as a result of four new virus clusters.

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”.

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