COVID-19: 173 from virus epicenter test negative

National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has announced that 173 people from Kuredu Island Resort have tested negative for COVID-19.

The resort was the first location of a positive case of the virus in the Maldives.

The first case of the virus in the Maldives was identified from a tourist on the resort in early March. The tourist had traveled out of the country before testing positive for the virus. After the case, monitoring mechanisms were placed on the resort and the alert levels were heightened to Orange level.

An imported case had transformed into a local transmission on the island, leading the authorities to decide to test everyone on the island. A further five tested positive for the virus on the island.

NEOC spokesperson Mabrouq Azeez in a press conference tonight stated that the samples of all employees on the island have been collected. Out of the samples, 173 had tested negative, while there are still more pending.

Restrictive measures on the island have been in place for nearly 50 days now.