Common symptoms among virus patients in Maldives include dry cough, sore throat

National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has announced that the majority of the people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives were between the ages of 20 to 40 years, and that most showed only mild symptoms.

Maldives has recorded 527 infections, 18 recoveries, and one fatality.

At a NEOC press briefing on Sunday night, Health Protection Agency (HPA) epidemiologist Dr. Ibrahim Afzal shared statistics on virus cases in the country.

The statistics he shared show virus cases to be the highest within the 20 - 40 year age category. 25 people who tested positive were 32 years of age.

Dr. Afzal suggested it was because people who fell within this age group went out more and had a generally more active lifestyle, increasing their risk of exposure to the virus.

85.5 percent of those who tested positive were males, while females made up for a significantly lower 14.5 percent.

“This may be because more males [than females] shop at markets and go out, in general. And because most migrant workers are male,” said Dr. Afzal.

The number of Bangladeshis to test positive exceeds Maldivians. 49.9 percent of those who tested positive were Bangladeshis, while 34.67 percent of those who tested positive were Maldivians. It followed Indians who made up for 10.86 percent and people from other nationalities who made up for 4.57 percent.

The number of contacts identified exceeds 3,900, few among whom show symptoms. And in terms of separate clusters, the highest number of contacts has been identified from clusters linked with migrant workers. The cluster associated with the Male’ marketplace BZM has 925 people, while the MH cluster has 757 people.

COMMON SYMPTOMS: DRY COUGH, SORE THROAT

Of the 507 active cases; 311 (61 percent) were symptomatic while 196 (39 percent) were asymptomatic.

“Common symptoms among the cases which have been identified so far include dry cough, sore throat and fever,” said Dr. Afzal.

Other symptoms:

• Headache
• Runny nose
• Sneezing
• Aches and pains
• Breathing difficulty
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Shivering
• Teary eyes

CHANCES FOR MORE CASES

Maldives recorded the biggest one-day jump in virus cases on Thursday, April 30, with 191 cases. However, the volume of cases recorded since then has been significantly lower.

However, Dr. Afzal said it wasn’t something Maldives could relax its stance over, and that there was a chance Maldives could see more cases in the coming days.

“It may be because of our sampling or the cases in pending that we aren’t identifying new cases,” said Dr. Afzal.

8,813 samples have been taken so far, out of which the results on 212 remain pending.

Dr. Afzal said that the health authorities were conducting active surveillance on high-risk categories. The authorities are monitoring 23 sites which house migrant workers, and have completed surveillance of seven sites.

“So, as we investigate the remaining sites, theirs is a high chance we identify more large clusters,” he said.