92-year-old man tests positive for coronavirus

A 92-year-old Maldivian man has tested positive for the new coronavirus, marking the oldest coronavirus patient in the country.

According to the records released by Health Protection Agency (HPA), the man tested positive on Thursday, May 28, and is in stable condition.

The oldest person to have been previously recorded to have contracted the deadly virus is an 89-year-old woman.

The new coronavirus is a highly infections virus. Health authorities have warned that the elderly are at high-risk of suffering complications from contracting the virus.

Five coronavirus patients have died in Maldives, three of whom were people above the age of 80 years.

Meanwhile, the youngest to test positive for the new coronavirus is a boy of just 11 days. The second youngest is an infant of just 17 days.

Maldives identified its first coronavirus case on March 7, and declared a state of public health emergency over the pandemic four days later on March 11.

While coronavirus cases had initially been restricted to resorts and safaris, and later quarantine facilities holding inbound travelers, Male’ City identified its first coronavirus case on April 15, prompting a city-wide lockdown and a nationwide ban on nonessential travel.

The populous capital has since become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, contributing to over 1,500 of the country’s 1,591 cases.

Health authorities confirmed 78 new coronavirus cases on Friday; 50 Bangladeshis, 25 Maldivians and three Indians. The spike in new cases came less than a day after the country began easing restrictions in a bid to promote economic activity.

At a National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) press briefing, HPA epidemiologist Dr. Afzal Ibrahim said that daily new coronavirus cases within the range of 30 to 50 was expected, and therefore no cause for concern.

However, new cases on Friday had exceeded beyond that.

Coronavirus tests are currently being conducted in three facilities in Male’; Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), ADK Hospital, and the Maldives Police Service’s forensics lab.

While coronavirus cases have increased to 1,591, 242 patients have recovered and five have died from complications.