The Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Tuesday, urged all persons who have travelled to or from Kolhufushi, Meemu Atoll, to register with the authorities.
The announcement comes after nine out of 105 samples obtained from the island tested positive for COVID19.
HPA advised individuals who have travelled to and from Kolhufushi from January 5 onwards, to inform the local hospital.
Further, even if those persons have already completed quarantine, the agency insisted that individuals get re-tested and self-quarantine until results are received.
On Tuesday, the coronavirus was detected in a further nine individuals located at Kolhufushi.
The island was placed under monitoring last week after a number of individuals were found positive for COVID19 upon return to capital city Male’.
In addition, the island of Thoddoo was also placed under monitoring status on Tuesday, after a positive result was received from a person that travelled to the island from Male’.
HPA recently eased several safety measures imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. These leniencies include the cancellation of the city-wide curfew over the greater Male’ region, the reduction of quarantine periods to 10 days as well as cancelling mandatory quarantine for locals returning to Maldives and for locals travelling to resorts.
However, the agency has now tightened restrictions again, amid renewed calls for citizens to adhere to protective measures to contain the spread of the virus, cautioning against a public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”.
At present, Maldives records over 15, 000 total confirmed cases, of which 1, 280 are those in active status, with 13, 916 recoveries and 51 deaths. On March 12, 2020, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 1 billion people and claimed over 2.1 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 72.5 million people have recovered.
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