COVID-19: Maldives to establish travel clinic to "promptly" screen individuals

Authorities have decided to establish a travel clinic in the capital, amid the rapid global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

This was announced in a joint statement issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Tuesday, which also revealed that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has instructed both institutions “to coordinate nationwide efforts, involving the entirety of state and government agencies, to safeguard the population from the risk of COVID-19”.

Noting that a national emergency center has been established as per the president’s instructions, the statement said that they are also “overseeing the activities of relevant agencies legally mandated to monitor Maldives’ health situation.”

The statement noted that the decision to strengthen measures was made due to the “rapid spread of the disease worldwide”, despite not having discovered a coronavirus case in the Maldives.

As such, the government has decided to establish a travel clinic in capital Malé City “so that any individual who has traveled abroad into the Maldives from abroad can be promptly screened if there is even the slightest suspicion that that individual has the virus.”

Furthermore, a special emergency drill is to be held on Tuesday. This drill is to provide instructions on the actions to be taken in the event that an individual within a household tests positive for the disease, and will “strengthen existing safety precautions meant to safeguard against the virus”.

The drill will also provide “directions on what other households should do to minimize the risk of being exposed to the virus, and on the steps that should be taken to quarantine infected households”.

In addition, a flu clinic has been established at the military hospital, Senahiya. This clinic will attend to “other sorts of viral infections” and will be “devoted to providing speedy care”.