COVID-19: Case 26 no longer counted as confirmed

The authorities in the Maldives have announced that the probable case of Patient 26 previously announced as positive for COVID-19 will no longer be counted so.

Speaking in a news conference tonight, National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) medical officer Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said that the decision comes after discussions with the WHO’s country office in the Maldives.

Case 26 has been previously designated as a probable one by the government after testing positive once and negative twice for the virus.

“Case 26 will be removed from the confirmed cases and the next new case will be designated as Case 26.” Said Dr. Nazla.

She added that Case 26 and the remaining probable case would be counted by the HPA as probable cases.

“The two cases will be included in our total case count.” Said Dr. Nazla. A probable case is when there is a high chance of being infected with COVID-19.  Case 26 has been identified as a 37-year-old woman who is connected with the first cluster of the virus identified in Male’ City.

The Maldives has confirmed 108 cases of the virus and the capital Male’ City reported 23 new cases within the last 24-hours.