Addu goes into 14-day lockdown

Addu City Council, on Saturday, announced the decision to impose a 14-day lockdown on the city.

The move comes within hours after Addu identified its first COVID-19 case; a heart patient who was medically evacuated to Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’ City early morning.

At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe) said the decision had been made at the directive of Health Protection Agency (HPA).

Sobe said that residents were to stay home for 14 days, effective immediately.

He said that residents will not be allowed to go out even to shop for essentials at this time.

The lockdown also suspends travel in and out of the city.

Addu’s first virus case has been identified as a 43-year-old Maldivian male who was brought in to the Addu Equatorial Hospital on Friday morning.  He was medically evacuated to IGMH in Male’ on early Saturday, and was tested for COVID-19 as is IGMH’s standard protocol for all hospitalized patients.

Equatorial Hospital’s Manager Sharaf Sadhaath said the man was in stable condition.

The man who tested positive had worked for the resort chain Anantara. He travelled back to Addu from Male’ – the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Maldives – on March 30.

Speaking at the press conference, Sobe said the authorities had yet to identify the man had already been infected when he returned, or had gotten exposed to the virus within the local community.

But there is now room to believe a community spread of COVID-19 exists in Addu, said Sobe.

Meanwhile, Saadhath said that seven doctors and ten nurses who had contact with the man had been isolated, and that the authorities had also identified the family members who had gone to see him off to Male’, the support staff involved in the transfer, as well as the airport staff who may have been exposed.

“We have so far identified 26 direct contacts of the patient. And we are working on tracing those who had contact with them, as in secondary contacts,” he said.

Saadath noted that the man had not exhibited any symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

He also said that the same ambulance which had been used to transport him to the airport had been used to transport another patient to the hospital.

“We were not aware at that time that he had tested positive. We are monitoring the patient who brought in in the ambulance,” said Saadhath.

Mayor Sobe has asked for anyone who had contact with the man or anyone who had visited his residence within the past days to contact Addu’s COVID-19 taskforce.

The decision to impose a full lockdown on Addu under the assumption of a likely community spread in the city comes as total virus cases in Maldives rose to 766 with 22 new cases this Saturday.

Virus cases have also been confirmed in a couple of residential islands in northern Maldives.

While transport between Maldivian islands has been banned since April 15, the day the capital Male’ confirmed its first case, people may travel between islands by obtaining a special permit.

However, health authorities have urged to refrain from travelling from one place to the other unless absolutely necessary.