Seven islands have been placed under monitoring today due to the critical COVID-19 situation in the atolls.

The four islands placed under monitoring today are Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Faresmaathodaa, Dhaalu Atoll Maaenbudhoo, Gaafu Alifu Atoll Maamendhoo, Noonu Atoll Kudafari, Noonu Atoll Velidhoo, Faafu Atoll Bilehdhoo and Raa Atoll Alifushi. These seven new additional islands today has raised the total number of islands under monitoring to 31.

Among these islands, the most critical is Faresmaathodaa. A fisherman consulted a doctor at the island and was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on 6 November. Since then, 18 people from the same vessel has tested positive along with two others from the island.

Kudafari also saw a person consult with symptoms and testing positive. Since then seven others have tested positive as well.

President of the Kudafari Island Council, Ali Shameem Mohamed told ONE Online today that a person who consulted at the flu clinic two days ago had tested positive. And so, 49 samples were collected among direct contacts and at random for testing while contact tracing is underway. He said that seven samples have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.

Bilehdhoo Island Council member, Asif Suhail told ONE Online that a school student who consulted with flu a couple of days ago had tested positive and contact tracing is underway. He said that the student had not traveled to any islands recently so they are looking in to how he was infected.

According to sources, DH. Maaenbudhoo was placed under monitoring after a community spread was confirmed.

Meanwhile, the President of Velidhoo Island Council told ONE Online that the the number of positive samples at the Velidhoo Flu Clinic has been increasing which has lead to a lock down. So far seven people have been confirmed positive and 48 houses are under quarantine in connection to these cases.

Positive cases have been reported from Maamendhoo and Alifushi as well. However, the number of cases is unclear at this time. The two islands have been packed under monitoring until the contact tracing has been completed.