Hoadedhoo: Condition of 2 COVID-19 patients deteriorate, to be transferred to Vilingili facility

Two of the COVID-19 patients from G. Dh. Hoadedhoo, whose condition have declined, are scheduled to be transferred to the regional COVID-19 facility located in G. A. Vilingili.

G. A. Atoll Hospital’s manager Shareef Ahmed told Sun that the two patients are scheduled to be transferred to the Vilingili facility later this Tuesday.

“They are scheduled to be transferred sometime tonight. We don’t have a specific time as of yet. They are two patients above the age of 70 years from Hoadedhoo whose condition declined. They are a married couple,” said Shareef.

The Vilingili facility has 23 ICU beds, and is currently treating two COVID-19 patients from G. A. Dhaandhoo.

Hoadedhoo identified its first coronavirus cases on September 3; four people undergoing home quarantine after travelling from Male’ – the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Maldives.

Surveillance to check for a community spread picked up two cases on September 4, prompting health authorities to implement restrictive measures in Hoadedhoo, including a temporary ban on all travel in and out of the island. Contact tracing on the two cases identified 19 additional cases on September 5.

Hoadedhoo now has 25 active cases; the four who tested positive while under home quarantine and the 21 whose source of infection remains unknown.

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) announced on Monday that health authorities have identified 111 people as contacts of the 21 cases, 60 of whom are symptomatic.

 “This includes 60 people who are symptomatic. Six of them are above the age of 50 years. And two are under the age of one year,” said HEOC spokesperson and epidemiologist Dr. Nazla Rafeeq.

The 111 people identified as contacts have been quarantined, and authorities are working on testing them and identifying the source of the infection.