Malé, Maldives – Child taken to hospital on motorbike in Malé last night was in emergency condition according to family.
After a video went viral of a child being transported to hospital in Malé, a family member confirmed to local news “Adhadhu” that an 11 year old boy was found unconscious, 3 days into isolation. The boy was placed in isolation at home after his grandfather tested positive for Covid-19.
The boy’s mother checks on him every few hours, however, last night there was no sound from the room. The family says that they rushed to the hospital on motorbike with the unconscious boy since the hospital was very close. The family sis not call any ambulances.
The boy is now being treated in a children’s Covid-19 treatment ward and is not in good condition.
Following the death of a 10 year old girl after waiting for an ambulance for 2 hours 25 minutes, the public is in a panic instigating some not calling emergency services and heading straight to hospital.
Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed that every day, 52 children under 10 years of age gets tested positive for Covid-19 in Maldives.
HPA noted today that starting from January this year, an alarming number of 5,131 children under 10 years have tested positive for the virus. On average, this is about 52 children each day including one month old babies as well. In May alone 381 infants below the age of 1 tested positive for Covid-19.
Earlier, Paediatrician Dr. Faisal had also stated that some children had to be put under the ventilator.
Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem (Kerafa Naseem) admitted that there was negligence of Health Ministry which resulted in the death of 10 year old girl.
According to the family of the deceased, the 10 year old girl child had tested positive for Covid-19 virus a few days back and the symptoms worsened in the past two days. The girl had passed away after being taken to IGMH emergency room following breathlessness.
According to sources, she was unconscious when she was taken to the ER after the ambulance reached the girls home after more than 2 hours 25 minutes since they had called.
Speaking at the press conference held tonight, following the public criticism and pressure from the general public, Minister Naseem stated that they had identified negligence of the ambulance service and those who attended the case and that the investigation would be over by tonight.
Minister Naseem also added that all the information from the investigation of the case other than the medical information would be released after the investigation is completed.
Health Ministry had earlier told that in light of this incident, immediate changes have been implemented by the Ministry to the mechanism that triggers ambulance deployment.
