COVID-19: New cases confirmed in Dhevvadhoo, Vilingili

New COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Dhevvadhoo and Vilingili - two islands in G. A. Atoll quarantined by health authorities.

Dhevvadhoo Council president Ibrahim Thaufeeq told Sun on Saturday that 11 more people tested positive from samples taken on Friday.

“Total 54 cases have been confirmed now,” he said.

Thaufeeq said that the new cases do not include any high-risk patients. And of the 54 people who have tested positive, all are in stable condition except for the two elderly patients being treated at the regional COVID-19 facility in G. A. Vilingili.

The two elderly patients being treated at the facility in Vilingili – a 79-year-old and a 68-year-old – are scheduled to be transferred to Male’ City for further treatment.

Cases linked with the Dhevvadhoo cluster were confirmed in Vilingili and G. A. Dhaandhoo last Thursday.

The case in Vilingili is an 18-year-old girl from Dhevvadhoo who studies at the G. A. Atoll Education Center.

G. A. Atoll Council president Ahmed Fuad told Sun on Saturday that samples have been taken from 37 people identified as contacts of the student, one of who has tested positive.

The new case increases cases in Vilingili to two.

“The individual who tested positive is a classmate of the first student who tested positive in Vilingili,” said Fuad.

He said that authorities are working on testing nine people identified as contacts of the second student.

Meanwhile, the two cases in Dhaandhoo are a nine-year-old and a 20-year-old woman who had contact with travelers from Dhevvadhoo. Dhaandhoo Council reports that authorities are testing contacts of the two patients, but that no new cases have been confirmed, as of yet.

Dhevvadhoo identified its first case on December 24, when a person in home quarantine after travelling from Male’ tested positive. While initial reports suggested the outbreak in Dhevvadhoo may have originated from the patient, Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) recently stated that they believe it more likely the outbreak had taken place prior to the case.

Cases linked with the Dhevvadhoo cluster have been confirmed in L. Fonadhoo, Hulhumale’, Vilingili and Dhevvadhoo.