Hulhumale’, Maldives – Eight children residing at the children’s center based in Hulhumale’ “Fiyavathi”, which is the facility where children in state care are admitted to, have tested positive for Covid-19.
Speaking at the press conference held at the Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC), Spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq revealed that the cluster began when a care worker at the facility became symptomatic, upon which the individual was tested, only to have the results come back positive, on the first of October.
She further detailed that 54 contacts were identified during contact tracing, after which 19 samples were collected. Out of these samples, an additional care worker and one child admitted to the facility tested positive, revealed Dr. Nazla. In addition to these samples, several random samples and those who were in quarantine were also tested on Tuesday, after which it was discovered than seven more children were positive for the virus, as well as another care worker. A third care worker also tested positive for the coronavirus from the same facility on Wednesday, totaling the number of care workers who tested positive for the virus to 3 and the number of children to 8.
Due to this, Dr. Nazla revealed that all individuals who tested positive from the facility have now been transferred to isolation facilities as safety measures to stop the spread of virus any further with the institution.
As of now, the total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the Maldives has reached 10,656, with active cases at 1,068. Out of the total, 9,547 patients have recovered, while the virus has claimed 34 lives in the country. While majority of the cases in the country were recorded from the congested capital of Male’, currently there are 125 cases of the virus across 21 different islands of the Maldives.
