3 Maldivians in Addu test negative for COVID-19

Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Tuesday, announced that the samples taken from three Maldivian nationals in Addu City who had developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 had tested negative.

The three in question were tested as a precautionary measure, said HPA.

It comes after a Maldivian national who recently travelled back from Cochin, India, went to the Addu Equatorial Hospital to seek medical attention after developing symptoms consistent with COVID-10.

Government spokesperson Mabrouq Azeez, during a National Emergency Operations Center press briefing on Sunday, March 29 confirmed that a doctor and two nurses, who had been the first to attend to the patient, had been ordered to home quarantine as a precautionary measure.

They had not been wearing protective gear, he said.

18 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives, including two Italian nationals who had departed from Maldives before they were identified as virus patients.

13 of them, all of whom are foreign nationals who were either vacationing or working in resorts or safaris, have since recovered.

The number of active cases now stands at three; all of whom are Maldivian nationals who recently returned from the UK. They have been in quarantine since returning to Maldives, as is now mandatory for all inbound passengers, with the exception of tourists with resort bookings.