COVID-19: Maldives records sixth virus-related death

Health Protection Agency (HPA) announced the sixth COVID-19 related death in Maldives on Monday.

The agency stated that the deceased was a 54-year-old Bangladeshi man, who was admitted at Tree Top Hospital in reclaimed suburb Hulhumale'.

Authorities are yet to disclose further details regarding the state of the individual prior to his passing.

His death comes a week after authorities confirmed the fifth fatality related to the coronavirus in the country. With this development, Maldives now records 1,773 confirmed and 1,313 active cases of COVID-19. In addition to the six fatalities, the country has recorded a total of 453 recoveries to date.

The country recorded its first virus death, of an 83-year-old local female, on April 29. The second death involved the passing of a 33-year-old male Bangladeshi national, following a tonic-clonic seizure, who afterwards tested positive for COVID-19. The third and fourth fatalities concerned local males aged 80 and 88 respectively, and the fifth was a 46-year-old Bangladeshi male found unconscious on a street in capital Male' and declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

The virus outbreak in the capital city has recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the Maldives' large expatriate population, the majority of whom are Bangladeshi nationals and live in highly congested quarters where it is impossible to reduce contact or exercise social distancing.

WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 6.2 million people and claimed over 374,300 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 2.8 million people have recovered.