Guraidhoo placed under lockdown as COVID-19 situation worsens

K. Guraidhoo has been placed under lockdown – in light of the worsening COVID-19 situation on the island.

The decision to lock down the island was taken by Guraidhoo Covid Taskforce during a meeting held last night.

Guraidhoo Council President Hussain Yameen told Sun that this is the first time the COVID-19 situation on the island has gotten this dire since the onset of the pandemic.

He further added that active cases currently stand at 108 – after being placed under monitoring mechanisms for a fourth time following the detection of a cluster.

“15 people had tested positive first. Samples were taken from 324 people as direct contacts – out of which 88 had tested positive,” he explained.

Yameen further detailed that six people who had newly tested positive for the disease were transferred to the island’s Covid facility for treatment following the deterioration of their health. However, he added that their conditions were stabilizing at the moment.

Speaking further, Yameen said that following the decision to go to lockdown; a curfew has also been announced from 9:00pm to 4:00am. In addition to this, restaurants and shops have been closed and will only be providing delivery services.

He added that depending on the adherence of residents to the curfew – discussions will be held to extend the curfew hours.

“We did enforce such restrictions on two occasions previously, and the residents were very cooperative. Hopefully, they will be cooperative this time as well,” he added.

Yameen stressed that the source of infection in the island has still not been identified. On this note, he said that the first detected cases were three individuals who had tested positive from the Home for People with Special Needs.

More than 90 percent of the eligible population in Guraidhoo are fully vaccinated.