COVID-19: 10 more test positive from Hoadedhoo

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) announced on Tuesday that 10 additional coronavirus cases have been confirmed from G. Dh. Hoadedhoo.

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.

HEOC announced on Tuesday evening that 10 additional coronavirus cases have been confirmed from Hoadedhoo; five males and five females.

The cases include a five-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, two 19-year-old women, a 28-year-old man, a 41-year-old man, a 62-year-old woman, a 67-year-old woman, a 67-year-old man, and an 80-year-old man.

HEOC said that all 10 cases are local transmissions. Eight are direct contacts of previous confirmed cases in Hoadedhoo, while two are secondary contacts.

Hoadedhoo now has 35 active cases; the four who tested positive while under home quarantine and the 31 whose source of infection remains unknown – including the 10 additional cases confirmed this Tuesday.

Two patients; a 64-year-old woman and an 80-year-old man, a married couple, were transferred to the regional coronavirus treatment facility located in G. A. Vilingili earlier this Tuesday after their condition deteriorated.

The additional 10 cases come after HEOC announced on Monday that health authorities have identified 111 people as contacts of the 21 cases, 60 of whom are symptomatic.

Six of the contacts are above the age of 50 years, while two are under the age of one year.

Authorities are working on testing the contacts and identifying the source of the infection.