Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Saturday confirmed the eighth COVID-19 related fatality in Maldives.
As per the agency, the deceased was a 38-year-old Bangladeshi national, who was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). It was also confirmed that the patient was in critical condition when taken to the hospital.
Further details regarding this patient are yet to be disclosed by the authorities.
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, while the third and fourth fatalities concerned local males aged 80 and 88 respectively. The fifth and sixth were also Bangladeshi males, aged 46 and 54. Meanwhile, the seventh death was an 89-year-old local woman.
The COVID-19 outbreak in the Maldives’ capital has disproportionately affected its migrant worker 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".
In a move to contain the spread of the coronavirus, in particular within congested labour quarters, the administration has mobilised efforts to transfer expatriate workers to safer environments, including temporary shelters in Hulhumale', Thilafushi and Gulhifalhu
Currently, Maldives records a total of 1,884 cases, out of which 1,159 are active cases of COVID-19. The country records 717 recoveries and eight deaths.
WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 6.8 million people and claimed over 398.665 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 3.3 million people have recovered.
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