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COVID-19: Bangladeshi national transferred to IGMH, in critical condition

Ahmed Aiham
05 May 2020, MVT 12:58
Workers are seen outside the Maldives Ports Limited. PHOTO: AHMED AWSHAN ILYAS / MIHAARU
Ahmed Aiham
05 May 2020, MVT 12:58

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) on early Tuesday, revealed that a Bangladeshi national, who later tested positive for COVID-19, was transferred to Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) after the individual's condition deteriorated.

According to the agency, said patient was transferred to the medical facility after suffering a tonic-clonic seizure.

With this new development, Maldives records 551 confirmed, 531 active cases of COVID-19 and a total of 17 recoveries. The country recorded its first virus death, of an 83-year-old local female, on April 29.

Following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15, Malé has recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases. The city is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The COVID-19 outbreak in the capital has disproportionately affected the expatriate population, the majority of whom are Bangladeshi nationals living in highly congested quarters where it is impossible to reduce contact or exercise social distancing. Their often small-spaced living conditions have been described by local and international civil society organizations as, "claustrophobic", "unsanitary" and "overcrowded".

On April 21, relevant authorities launched monitoring operations centred around the living quarters of expatriate workers, having acknowledged that the congested nature of such zones placed these foreign nationals at a significantly higher risk of contracting the virus.

National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) on May 2, announced plans to relocate high-risk expatriate workers from 23 accommodation blocks as a measure to reduce the community spread of COVID-19 under orders from the Director-General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakur to place all high-risk workers in the Greater Male' region under quarantine, in facilities allocated by NEOC.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 3.6 million people and claimed over 252,420 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 1.2 million people have recovered.

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