Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed that 34,677 samples were tested for COVID-19 over the last 100 days.
Monday marks the 100th day since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the Maldives. While a total of 2035 people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, the results of 32,642 tests came back negative. 346 people were tested per day on average.
Initially, only people who displayed symptoms of the virus were tested for the illness. However, health experts raised concern on the low number of tests and noted that more tests were necessary to identify the extent of community spread.
From then on, random samples were collected on the streets of the capital Male’, and from people within high-risk groups.
Maldives COVID-19 statistics:
• Bangladeshi nationals 1074
• Maldivians 710
• Indian nationals 192
• Nepali nationals 28
• Sri Lankan nationals 11
• Italian nationals 11
• Pakistani nationals 3
• Others 6
The state has relieved some restrictive measures imposed on the Maldives on Monday, and efforts are ongoing to study the situation of the community spread after the relief of restriction measures. While the samples are being collected from five categories: frontline workers, those working at the response centres, people above 65-years-old, those residing at congested venues, and people between the ages of 20 to 30, the doctors urge public cooperation in collecting samples and reminded the public to carry identification while outside.
Collecting random samples on the streets of capital Male'
