Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed 78 people have tested positive for COVID-19 from the cluster formed from a wedding reception held in Male’ City.
The cluster was formed among guests of a wedding held in SHE Building in Male’ on December 20. The first case of the cluster was reported on December 24. HPA states a total of 78 people have tested positive for COVID-19 from the cluster.
According to HPA, the cases reported from the cluster include several high-risk individuals such as elderly people and individuals seeking treatment for long-term illnesses. HPA said 8 and 9 month-old infants have also tested positive from this cluster.
HPA said efforts are still ongoing to trace the contacts of all who attended the wedding reception. HPA also requested individuals who came into contact with a positive case from the cluster to call the hotline 1676 to share their information with the agency.
The daily COVID-19 numbers in the Maldives have started to rise again following the formation of the wedding cluster, as well as the increase in imported cases due to the rising number of tourist arrivals. As such, 47 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on January 1.
A total of 13,804 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the Maldives since the disease was first detected in the country on March 7 last year. This includes 606 active cases, 13,150 recovered cases and 48 deaths. There are currently 25 patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 in hospitals or medical facilities.