National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) has revealed the number of direct contacts of patients is decreasing in the Maldives despite the reported daily COVID-19 cases.
Speaking at the daily press briefing held at the NEOC, Dr. Nazla Rafeeq from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) said although 1,868 contacts of 66 cases were identified during the first week of the community spread, the numbers have dropped significantly with only 914 contacts identified from 337 confirmed cases in the second week of May. She said the second week of the community spread saw a significant increase in contacts as expatriates living in overcrowded accommodation facilities tested positive for COVID-19. However, all direct contacts of recorded cases in the Maldives during the lockdown has dropped ever since.
Speaking at the press briefing, Dr. Ibrahim Afzal from TAG said only a few contacts of confirmed cases currently show symptoms of COVID-19 with only 10% of all contacts testing positive developing COVID-19 symptoms.
A large majority of patients in the Maldives are reported to be asymptomatic even after testing positive for COVID-19.