No cases of coronavirus in Maldives yet: HPA

Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed that there have not been any positive cases for coronavirus in the Maldives thus far.

The Ministry of Health and relevant authorities have begun taking adequate measures in order to curb an outbreak of the virus in Maldives, which is expected following the high tourist arrivals from China, which saw an outbreak after an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.

As such, the ministry began operating a thermal camera to screen tourists arriving through Velana International Airport (VIA) on Wednesday.

This will help authorities isolate and run further tests on those with a high temperature.

The ministry has since given its 100 percent that all the required measures will be taken to prevent the disease from surfacing.

Earlier this week, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China has been linked to a novel coronavirus, which consecutively resulted in over 140 cases and a few fatalities since the epidemic began in December 2019.

The statement goes on to reveal the likelihood of infection through processed food from food handlers and market workers, with reports having attributed the outbreak to the country’s seafood and animal markets. While preparations are underway on the recommendations from World Health Organization (WHO), Maldivians travelling to China are advised to take precautionary measures like avoiding animals, dead or alive, animal markets and even coming in contact with infected people.

While regularly hand-washing has also been pushed, some of the symptoms of the virus include fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.