Addu City, Maldives – Spokesperson of the Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC), Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has revealed that those who tested positive for Covid-19 from the Dhoogas cluster – which are the 55 individuals who tested positive for the coronavirus among the 128 individuals quarantined the Dhoogas facility, after arriving in Addu City from Cochin, to work at the Police Academy site – have violated the quarantine regulations set by Health Protection Agency (HPA).
Speaking at the HEOC press conference held on Monday night, Dr. Nazla revealed that apart from the 54 individuals who tested positive for the virus from the Dhoogas facility, which includes the individual not in quarantine, but tasked with guarding the facility, an additional individual who was based at the Police Academy accommodation site has also tested positive.
Revealing that the new positive cases from the cluster was an individual who visited the quarantine facility unauthorized, Dr. Nazla said that, “It has been noticed that the quarantine regulations have been violated. That is when an individual from the work site visited those in quarantine. The matter has been referred to the Police as well.”
With 377 samples having have been collected with regards to the cluster so far, 74 samples are still pending while the rest have come back negative.
The initial 53 cases were confirmed from the Dhoogas cluster when the 128 individuals in Dhoogas were tested upon the completion of a mandatory 14 day quarantine period. This quarantine applies to anyone traveling to the country from abroad, or anyone traveling from an island where there is a known local or community transmission of the novel coronavirus.
According to the latest statistics by HPA, currently there are 20 islands with 122 active cases of Covid-19, as well as 20 resorts with 10 tourists and 16 employees, who are positive for Covid-19.
