Dr Nazla Rafeeq has revealed that the most recent seven cases of COVID-19 that were confirmed today have links to an existing cluster.

Speaking during a press conference at the National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) Dr Nazla noted that all recent cases developed symptoms within a day or two, after the lockdown in Male' City on April 15th.

She further noted that upon contact tracing, a reduced number of contacts have been identified and is believed to be the effect of the current lockdown in Male'.

She added that most of the contacts identified through positive cases work in big companies with large groups of people. Hence she noted that the lockdown will reduce the meetings an individual has with such a case which in turn reduces the number of contacts for each positive case.

So far about 945 people have been identified through contact tracing.