Ministry of Health, on Tuesday, revealed that two Maldivians who returned from China, the origin country of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. were placed in quarantine.
Maldives, along with several other nations, has mandated a 14-day quarantine period for citizens returning from China as a precaution against the virus which has infected over 80,000 and killed more than 2,700.
The ministry stated that neither of the individuals exhibited any symptoms of the virus and were quarantined as per guidelines released by World Health Organization (WHO).
Following WHO's donation of 1,000 testing kits, suspected carriers of the virus can now be tested at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) with results available within 10 to 12 hours. Previously, test samples were sent to Pune, India, for analysis.
So far, no cases of the virus have been detected in Maldives.
The state has implemented a number of preventive measures to prevent an outbreak in the country, notably restricting the entry of all persons who have China as their port of embarkation or have transited through Mainland China, regardless of their nationality.
A temporarily suspension was also imposed on all incoming direct flights from China with the government also releasing a travel advisory for all Maldivians, warning against all non-essential travel to China and countries where the virus has been detected.
Additionally, the government evacuated seven Maldivians residing in China's Wuhan City, the epicentre of the outbreak, with Indian assistance on February 2. After a 14-day quarantine period in India, the individuals were brought to Maldives on February 18.
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