Two nurses working at Haa Alif Dhidhdhoo Atoll Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing hospital functions to a stop.

Dhidhdhoo Hospital manager Usman Ashraf told RaajjeMV that while the island has only three active cases, that due to the two nurses testing positive, many other nurses have been quarantined as well.

While this has led to an issue of understaffing at the hospital, Usman said that the hospital operations have been halted briefly as a safety measure.

Moreover, efforts are in progress to send nurses from other islands of the atoll to solve the staffing issue.

While monitoring measures were lifted from Dhidhdhoo on July 22, the island was brought under monitoring once more a few days later, after an individual that consulted at the island’s flu clinic tested positive for the virus. This is the fourth time the island has been placed under monitoring since the start of the pandemic

Contact tracing is underway.