10-year-old becomes Maldives’ youngest COVID-19 victim

Maldives recorded its youngest COVID-19 fatality on early Wednesday, with the death of a 10-year-old girl.

The girl died in Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH)’s Emergency Room at 12:10 am this Wednesday.

Sun has been informed she was a special needs child.

She is also the first child to die from COVID-19 in Maldives.

"This is the 170th COVID-19 death in the Maldives," said Health Protection Agency (HPA), confirming the death.

Maldives has been experiencing a surge in both infection rate and fatalities in recent weeks.

Last May saw the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities in a single month, with 88 deaths.

Maldives has 65,164 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 768 new cases recorded on Monday. 40,951 patients have since recovered.

The country currently has 24,035 active cases. 208 of the patients are hospitalized.

The surge in cases has prompted health authorities to tighten restrictions, both in the populous Male’ City area and other residential areas with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

According to Health Protection Agency (HPA), 381 children below the age of one year tested positive for COVID-19 last May. An average of 52 children below the age of 10 years test positive for COVID-19 each day. And over 5,000 children under the age of 10 years have tested positive so far this year.