Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) has revealed additional test kits will be brought to Maldives on September 5.
Speaking at a press conference, Spokesperson of HEOC, Dr. Fathmath Nazla Rafeeq said the current stock consists of kits to test only 4,000 samples. She added as part of efforts to enhance the testing capacity of the country, additional 60,000 test kits are being brought within this week. She revealed out of the 60,000 test kits, 40,000 test kits are brought from China and remaining 20,000 test kits are brought from the US.
Further, Dr. Nazla stated 1,200 GeneXpert cartridges used to test for COVID-19 are in the atolls, noting these cartridges are used in five regions; Ungoofaaru, Eydhafushi, Thinadhoo, Gan and Addu City. She highlighted that on average 1,000 samples are collected to test for COVID-19 daily.