Kulhudhuffushi City's COVID-19 task force on Sunday said samples of 100 people who traveled on the boat 'Amaaz' will be taken later the same night.
The captain of the Sh. Narudhoo boat recently tested positive for COVID-19. The boat had stop-overs at 13 different islands on its most recent trip, which has prompted authorities to place all 13 islands on monitoring status. The passengers who traveled on the boat have been isolated, and their homes placed under quarantine. The case is especially concerning as it could have potentially carried the virus to multiple islands.
Kulhudhuffushi city is also on monitoring status, although the boat did not make a direct stop at the city. However, three people who traveled on the vessel are currently in the city.
The leader of the Kulhudhuffushi task force and former manager of Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital Ahmed Dawud on Sunday said the sample of one person who developed symptoms of COVID-19 have now been collected, and his house has been quarantined. The samples of the remaining two persons in Kulhudhuffushi will be collected later the same day, he added. Dawud said a total of 100 samples will be collected from those linked to Amaaz boat in different northern islands.
According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 98 people traveled on Amaaz in addition to the boat's crew, out of which five people have now developed symptoms of COVID-19. The captain of the vessel is the second person to test positive for the virus in the atolls after the detection of the first case of local transmission in capital Male' earlier on April 15.
The Maldives recorded its highest single-day jump in positive cases on Sunday with 73 new cases. The total number of positive cases identified in the Maldives is now 214.
