Hoadedhoo cases: 111 contacts, 60 are symptomatic

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) announced on Monday that 60 people identified as contacts of the confirmed coronavirus cases from G. Dh. Hoadedhoo are symptomatic.

Hoadedhoo identified its first coronavirus cases on September 3; four people undergoing home quarantine after travelling from Male’ – the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Maldives.

Surveillance to check for a community spread picked up two cases on September 4, prompting health authorities to implement restrictive measures in Hoadedhoo, including a temporary ban on all travel in and out of the island.

Contact tracing on the two cases identified 19 additional cases on September 5.

In a press conference on Monday evening, HEOC spokesperson and epidemiologist Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said that the health authorities have identified 111 people as contacts of the 21 cases whose source of infection is as of yet unidentified.

 “This includes 60 people who are symptomatic. Six of them are above the age of 50 years. And two are under the age of one year,” she said.

Nazla said the 111 contacts have been quarantined, and that authorities are working on testing them.

Nazla said that health authorities have taken additional measures in Hoadedhoo following the cases, and are working on identifying the source of the infections.

Measures have also been initiated in, G. Dh. Thinadhoo, which is linked to Hoadedhoo via a causeway. Dr. Abdul Samad Memorial Hospital in Thinadhoo, which is involved in coronavirus efforts in both Thinadhoo and Hoadedhoo, has announced that 77 random samples taken from Thinadhoo to check for a possible community spread have come back negative.