Health Protection Agency (HPA) has extended the lock down on the Greater Male’ area by another 24 hours.

The initial lock down for 24 hours in Male’ area was declared yesterday at 2:30 p.m. after the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the Maldivian capital earlier in the day.

Close to the end of the lock down, HPA issued a statement today signed by the Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Abubakr stating that the lock down has been extended by another 24 hours.

HPA said that the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the capital was not a person with a recent travel history. And so, a contact tracing is under way.

And so, 11 people who were in contact with the first confirmed case have been tested for the illness and ten of them had tested negative. The one person who tested positive was the under two-year-old son of the first person who was confirmed for COVID-19 in the Maldivian capital. More testing was carried out among those who were in contact with the person and a third case was confirmed yesterday as well.

Furthermore, 14 others who met with the first person confirmed for COVID-19 have been put in the Isolation Facility in Hulhule’ after they started showing symptoms of the illness.

HPA also declared that the city has a community spread and raised the alert level in the city.