193 unlinked coronavirus cases recorded in one week

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) announced on Thursday that health authorities have recorded 193 cases unlinked with any existing coronavirus clusters within the span of one week.

In a press conference held by HEOC on Thursday night, Dr. Nazla Mustafa, a member of the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group (TAG), said that the number of unlinked cases has risen, and that it is an indication of a wide community spread.

Statistics presented by HEOC shows that 462 people tested positive for the new coronavirus over the one-week period from July 22 to July 28. 193 of the cases are unlinked with any existing clusters, making for 42 percent of confirmed cases during the period.

It marks the biggest single-week surge in unlinked cases to be recorded in Maldives.

“This means that the origin of the infection of 40 out of 100 people to test positive is unknown. This is cause for great concern. People with no links testing positive means there are more people who are positive within the community who have yet to be identified,” she said.

Nazla said that members of the public must make it a priority to ensure that the infection does not spread to others.

She appealed for people to wear masks while in public, practice social distancing, practice frequent hand washing and refrain from going out unless necessary.

The surge in coronavirus cases follows the relaxation of the lockdown earlier this July.

Maldives recorded 152 new cases this Thursday, marking the biggest single-day surge of coronavirus cases to be recorded since the community spread began in the country.

Maldives now has 3,719 confirmed coronavirus cases. 2,568 patients have since recovered, while 16 have died from complications. The latest fatality was recorded earlier this Thursday.

Mask while out in public in the greater Male’ region – the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Maldives – is now mandatory.