Authorities confirmed late evening on Sunday that 23 more individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in the capital city of Male', raising the total number of positive cases in Maldives to 214.
HPA later revealed on Monday that the 23 new cases include 19 Bangladesh nationals, two Indian nationals and two Maldivian nationals.
Speaking at the NEOC press briefing, Health Protection Agency (HPA)'s Dr Ibrahim Afzal stated that patterns emerged on types of individuals who have a higher risk of exposure to the virus, and that most cases were identified in groups condensed to particular areas.
"We are now identifying cases that were in contact with each other since the beginning of community spread. I would say that more individuals will test positive in the future", he said.
Of the 50 cases recorded earlier today, 11 did not belong to any known clusters.
Dr Afzal did not reveal further details about individual cases.
Including the 50 that tested positive earlier, the number of people found positive for COVID-19 today has reached 73 — marking the highest number of positive confirmations reported within a single day.
Maldives has recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases since its first confirmed case in the capital city of Male' on April 15 involving a local woman that sought assistance from a flu clinic in Malé after developing symptoms.
With this new development, Maldives now records two probable and 198 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 16 recoveries, in addition to the 214 positive cases.
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 2.96 million people and claimed over 205,686 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 873,548 people have recovered.
Sign In