Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) has revealed the COVID-19 seroprevalence survey is set to be extended to include expatriates in the Maldives.
Speaking at a press conference, Spokesperson of HEOC Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq said collection of blood samples from locals for the seroprevalence survey has now been completed. However, she said the survey is set to be extended to include samples from expatriates in the Maldives. She said the Rapid Response Team (RRT) will be active in the streets to collect samples from expatriates.
Dr. Nazla said analysis of the data collected from locals for the seroprevalence survey is currently ongoing. She said findings of the survey will be released next week.
The seroprevalence survey is conducted jointly by Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Maldives National University (MNU). The survey aims to identify the percentage of people in the community who have had past exposure to the virus and recovered. As such, the survey aims to determine how much the community has been exposed to the virus, and identify the level of immunity among individuals.
During the first round of the survey, blood samples were obtained from children under the age of 18. During the second round, blood samples were collected from selected individuals who were notified via text message. Samples were collected from four locations across Male’, Hulhumale’ and Villimale’.