15 additional people have tested positive for COVID-19 in capital city, Male’.
Authorities said nine locals and six Bangladeshi nationals tested positive for the virus on Monday. This brings the total number of people infected with the virus in residential areas to 46, and the total number of positive cases in the archipelago to 67.
According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the people are now being isolated, and contact tracing is currently ongoing.
Two people who tested positive on Monday are employed at 'Ihsan' company, a company that runs two popular supermarket outlets in the capital. It is unknown whether the cases are linked to an existing cluster. A local working in the delivery section of wholesale shop BHM Traders, a second local employed at Dhivehi View, and a third local whose place of employment is unknown also tested positive for the virus after presenting themselves to the Flu Clinic with symptoms of the virus.
Three other locals who tested positive on Monday are linked to existing clusters stemming from previous positive case. All three were already in isolation when they were tested, due to being direct contacts of previous positive cases. Contact tracing is now ongoing.
Due to a hike in the infection rate, the government has been strengthening its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives. The capital has been placed on lockdown and travel between the islands have also been banned. Congregational prayers in mosques across the Maldives has also been suspended indefinitly. Those who travelled back from Male’ to the islands over the past seven days have been instructed to be self-isolate.
