A sample taken during active surveillance of older persons has tested positive for Covid-19.

This was revealed at the press conference held at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Saturday night.

While NEOC had on Wednesday revealed that active surveillance of older persons has been launched, Dr. Nazla Rafeeq on Saturday said that they are currently working to collect samples from households where there are individuals over 65.

She said that at least three samples are taken from each household, including those that interact with older persons as well as individuals that go out for essentials.

The doctor highlighted that none of the samples taken through this procedure had tested positive in the past three days, but that one had tested positive on Saturday.

Noting that older persons are at a significantly increased risk of severe disease if infected with the virus, Dr. Nazla stressed that the purpose of the active surveillance is to identify if there are any such persons infected as soon as possible and take the required actions.

She also expressed concern over the unwillingness to provide samples after claiming that they do not go out at all, and asked for all to cooperate in their efforts.