Covid-19 case 26 in Male' City probable, not confirmed

National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has said that the previously announced Covid-19 case of Patient 26 was a probable one and not a confirmed one.

The patient had tested positive from the first test and later tested negative twice for the virus.

NEOC spokesperson Mabrouq Azeez said that even though the case will be termed as a probable one, it would still be counted as a positive case and the patient would be released after 14 days.

A probable case is identified as a patient who has a high chance of testing positive for the virus.

Patient 26, is a female who is part of the first cluster identified in Male’ City and is aged 37.

“Case 26 is a probable case…we will be assessing it as an active case and will be treated as a positive case.” Said Mabrouq when questioned if the patient would be taken off the list of positive cases by Sun.

Speaking in the news conference, NEOC medical officer Dr. Nazla Mustafa said that the first test to be conducted on suspected cases was a screening test after which a specific test to see whether the patient has been infected with Covid-19 is conducted.

“Sometimes the screening test may return as positive and the Covid-19 test as negative. However, if the screening test turns out positive and the patient has a connection with another positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, we will be treating it as a probable case.” Said Dr. Nazla Mustafa specifying how those who test negative for Covid-19 specific test and those who test positive for the screening test are assessed by the authorities.

She added that each test had the probability of being contaminated before noting that this was an extremely low chance.

She also said that an individual could test negative due to how the PCR tests are conducted. In that situation, the individual would be isolated based on their contacts.

“In instances of incubation, tests taken through the nostril have also returned as negative. We will not completely discard a test as such. We will take it as a probable case. Especially if there is a direct contact link.” Said Dr. Nazla Mustafa.

Speaking in the same press conference, Dr. Nazla Rafeeq, a medical officer of NEOC specializing in pediatric infections, also supported the procedure. She added that there were three types of cases. They are confirmed, probable and suspected cases.

“A confirmed case has been reclassified as a probable one. One more case without a case number exists to be reclassified (as a probable case).” Said Dr. Nazla Rafeeq.

The decision would not reduce the number of positive cases in the country, noted Dr. Nazla Rafeeq. She added that there were a number of suspected cases, which would not be announced even after tests.

“If they test negative, as Dr. Nazla Mustafa has said, there is a slight chance of being infected and exhibit symptoms after 14 days, we will be keeping them under monitoring and follow-ups after which they will be released,”

“We will not announce these cases as suspected cases. So, the cases we have right now, are confirmed ones. The other two probable cases would be in the same way.” Said Dr. Nazla.

The Maldives has confirmed 69 cases of Covid-19 so far.

Editor’s Note: Sun Online International published a news article previously that stated the case number of the probable patient as case 16. We regret to inform you that this information was inaccurate and we have since removed the news from our platforms. The correct information as verified is published in this article and we offer our sincere apologies to our readers for the mistake.