COVID-19

COVID-19: Addu city placed on lockdown after patient tests positive

A patient was transferred to capital Male’ from the southernmost Addu for further treatment has tested positive for COVID-19.

The person recently travelled back to Maradhoofeydhoo ward of Addu City after completing compulsory quarantine period at Anantara Resort following the temporary shuttering of resorts due to COVID-19 pandemic. He was transported to Male’ on Friday night following treatment at Addu Equatorial Hospital after suffering a heart attack. He tested positive for the virus at state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

This is the first time a person has tested positive from Addu atoll. A 14-day lockdown has now been imposed on the atoll, and contact tracing is ongoing. Mayor Abdulla Sadiq said a community spread of COVID-19 exists within the population, and that over 26 people who had been in contact with the patient have already been isolated. Seven doctors and ten nurses are among those who were isolated.