Male’, Maldives – After the Ministry of Health investigated the death of a Covid-19 patient at Kandima Maldives Resort, the Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru has submitted the issue to Maldives Police Service for further investigation.
The deceased was a symptomatic 60 year old Kandima employee was being treated at Dh. Atoll Hospital where he succumbed to his illness on 30th October, roughly around four hours after he was transferred to the hospital. But he is reported to have been sickly for about two weeks, according to family and had requested the resort to be transferred to a health care facility outside of the resort, after he failed to recover, despite consulting with the resort’s in house doctor and taking the prescribed medication.
Upon his death, he was tested for Covid-19, given that he was symptomatic as well. The results came back positive, after which the resort is now accused of negligence.
Spokesperson for Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC), Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said that a team from HEOC was sent to the resort on 2nd November. They were tasked with investigating the cause and extent of the COVID-19 spread at Kandima Maldives.
The team investigated both the resort and Dh. Atoll Hospital, where they made multiple inquiries from inhabitants. The team returned to the capital on the 5th and submitted their report to the Director General of Public Health, who sent the case to Police for further investigation the same night.
Dr. Nazla added that with 30 new cases reported from the resort on November 3rd, total cases at the resort is now at 50. The new cases are mostly Kandima employees, with one departing guest found positive.
The resort is under monitoring status since the first of November, with restrictions placed on movement to and from the resort. Kandima Maldives Resort is off-limits for tourists and bookings are now being diverted to other resorts.
Currently, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the Maldives is at 838, while 11,010 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the Maldives, out of the total of 11,893 patients to tested positive in the country. The death from Kandima resort marked the 38th life claimed by the virus.
