47.7 percent of Covid-19 patients in Maldives are Bangladeshi nationals

Over 100 Bangladeshi nationals have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Maldives.

While a total of 214 people has tested positive thus far, 103 of them are Bangladeshi nationals. This is 47.76 percent of the total cases in the country.

There were 75 confirmed Bangladeshi patients on Sunday morning, and this number increased to 103 that night.

The first Bangladeshi national that tested positive in the country is the spouse of a Maldivian woman. The 32-year-old man tested on April 17, two days after a community transmission was detected in the capital.

The clusters with the highest number of positive cases include a number of Bangladeshi nationals. Most of them were living in congested living spaces in the capital. Some of them were already identified as being at risk of contracting the virus, and moved under state care before a community spread was detected.

So far 25 cases have been traced to the "Ameen Hiya cluster", which has been used to accommodate those rescued from the Male' City. The first case from this cluster was reported on the 19th of April. The shelter has since been placed on lockdown.

While there are over 100,000 migrant workers in the Maldives, most of them are Bangladeshi nationals. Living conditions of migrant workers in the Maldives have been subject immense scrutiny, by both local and international human rights groups.

And as they are made to live in small, congested and unsanitary quarters, they have been identified as at high risk of contracting the virus and in turn spreading it. Hence, such vulnerable areas have been identified through a survey.

While a number of cases have since been confirmed from these areas, a total of 18 living quarters have been placed under monitoring with restricted movement in and out of the places.

Other nationalities of confirmed patients in Maldives: