Dr. Fathmath Nazla Rafeeq has been appointed as the spokesperson of the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC).

Ministry of Health made the announcement via Twitter on Saturday night.

While the government had established the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) following the Covid-19 outbreak, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih last week announced that this centre’s Covid-19 operations will cease from July 1, the operations were shifted to the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Nazla, a senior medical officer at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), was part of the NEOC team as well, and has been on the frontlines of the Covid-19 response efforts since the beginning. Her work was mostly related to the contact tracing work of confirmed patients.

The doctor said that this appointment is “an honour and a big responsibility” and added that HEOC is “committed to provide timely updates on the Covid-19 situation and provide the best available information on prevention”.

She added that the situation will be managed by following the Health Protection Agency (HPA)’s guidelines.

The under secretary at the President’s Office, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz, had served as the spokesperson of the NEOC, he fulfilled his final responsibilities on July 1.