HPA confirms total 31 COVID-19 cases in Male' City

Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Sunday confirmed an additional 15 COVID-19 cases in Male' City, bringing the total number of positive cases in the capital to 31.

Out of the newly confirmed cases, 13 patients (MAV037, MAV038, MAV039, MAV040, MAV041, MAV042, MAV043, MAV044, MAV045, MAV046, MAV047, MAV048 and MAV049) are all Bangladeshi nationals linked to the existing cluster case of MAV027. They are all employees of Lily Enterprises and were sharing living quarters. Their accommodation block has been placed under monitoring.

According to HPA, the other two cases (MAV050 and MAV051) were confirmed to be two Indian nationals, employed at Bright Brothers. MAV050 and MAV051 are not yet confirmed to have been in 'direct contact' with any other COVID-19 patients. HPA stated that the agency is working on establishing any links with current cases.

The aforementioned patients are currently being transferred to an isolation facility. With these new developments, a total of 17 expatriates have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives thus far.

The first community transmission was (MAV021) a local female with no recent travel history, who presented to the flu clinic in Male' after developing symptoms. She tested positive for the virus on April 15.

Authorities have repeatedly called on the public to adhere to lockdown guidelines and heed isolation and social distancing measures, in order to flatten the curve and curb the spread of the virus. With Maldives expected to reach peak within 14 days, HPA warned earlier that should the present circumstances persist without stricter adherence to controlling measures, the number of infections is projected to reach nearly 100,000 with 2,000 estimated deaths.

Maldives now has 51 confirmed and 35 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 16 recoveries. A total of 1,081 suspect cases were placed in quarantine while 61 others have been isolated.

The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 2.3 million people and claimed over 160,783 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 599,997 people have recovered.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article published on April 19, 2020 at 1510 hours had an error in the second paragraph which read Lily International instead of Lily Enterprises. This error was corrected at 1915 hours on the same date. Our humble apology over the mistake and any confusion that may have arisen because of it.