With 8 new cases, COVID-19 cases in Male’ rises to 40

Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Monday, announced eight more people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Male’, increasing total cases in the capital to 40, and cases nationwide to 60.

According to HPA, the eight new patients include six Maldivian nationals and two Bangladeshi nationals.

All eight are being moved to an isolation facility.

HPA is working on establishing links between the new cases and existing cases in the capital.

While virus cases in Maldives had previously been isolated to resorts islands and safaris, virus cases emerged in the populous capital on April 15, resulting in a lockdown on Male’ and suburban Hulhumale’ and Vilimale’.

H. A. Uligan, an island located in northern Maldives, has also confirmed one case, a resident who recently travelled back to the island following a trip to the capital. It marks the first virus case to be reported in a residential island outside of the capital.

Of the 60 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives, 16 have recovered, and two are outside the country.

The eight new cases this Monday follow 17 new cases on Sunday; the patient from Uligan, and 14 Bangladeshi nationals and two Indian nationals in Male’.

Of the 16 cases in Male’ on Sunday, 13 Bangladeshi patients are employees of Lily Enterprises and live in a shared accommodation. They are linked with the existing cluster linked to patient 27, a 36-year-old Maldivian woman who is employed at the wholesale department of the same company.

Meanwhile, the two Indian patients are technicians employed by Bright Brothers who make house calls to repair air condition systems. They are linked with the existing cluster linked with patient 28, a 47-year-old Maldivian man. The two had been asymptomatic, but had been tested because they were direct contacts.

The remaining case was a Bangladeshi national who was tested after presenting to a flu clinic. Authorities have yet to establish a link between the patient and any other existing clusters.