Two additional residents of capital Malé City have tested positive for Covid-19.

The first positive case from the city was discovered on Wednesday morning, and two direct contacts of hers had tested positive as well. While one of these is her child, the new cases are direct contacts of the other individual (Patient 23).

Both have been transferred to an isolation facility.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in the Maldives to 25. While five are from the capital, this is the first documented case of a community spread.

Patient 21 is a woman that tested positive for coronavirus, despite no recent travel history, upon presenting to the flu clinic in the capital after exhibiting Covid-19 like symptoms. Later that night, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that two direct contacts of hers had tested positive while other identified contacts were taken into isolation.

242 contacts of these three patients are being tested and while 207 of them are contacts of Patients 21 and 22 (mother and child), the remaining had come into contact with Patient 23.

82 of these people have been determined as high-risk contacts; seven are direct contacts of Patient 23 while the rest are of the mother and child.