33 close contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 case have been identified via contact tracing.
On Tuesday, two islands -Joali Maldives and Raa Bodufushi- were placed under monitoring after a foreign national who visited both islands had tested positive for Covid-19 after returning to their native country; Joali Maldives is a resort and Bodufushi is leased for resort development, both are run under the same management.
While speaking to the press at the Nationale Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Wednesday night, spokesperson for the government’s Covid-19 taskforce, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz stated that 33 close contacts of the confirmed case have been identified through contact tracing, adding that 21 samples have been collected thus far. The contact tracing process is still ongoing.
Further, in regard to the number of people under quarantine, Mabrook revealed that 28 people were released on Wednesday. With the recent arrivals from the repatriation flight from Malaysia, there is a current total of 1019 people in various quarantine facilities and 12 people under isolation. 200 samples were taken on Wednesday from people pending release from quarantine.
As such, Mabrook revealed that an individual quarantined at Embudhu Island Resort was granted permission to travel to Malè City in order to attend the funeral prayers of their grandfather. However, they were instructed to pray separately. He stated that the same rule will be applicable for resort staff as well.
He also stated that travel restrictions have been lifted from a total of 18 resorts and 43 safaris so far, with 14-days passing since the last tourist left.
It was also revealed that the medical facility near Tree Top Hospital in Hulhumale' will have 300 beds, in addition to a service building and an accommodation building. Construction cost approximately MVR 12 million whereas cost medical equipment is estimated at MVR 28 million, said Mabrook.
As of 20:00 on Wednesday, a total of 2350 samples have been collected in the country with 272 samples pending results.
