Islamic ministry employee tests positive for Covid-19

An employee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has tested positive for coronavirus.

The ministry’s permanent secretary, Abdulla Haseeb Ismail confirmed this to RaajjeMV.

Noting that the employee’s Covid-19 test results came back positive on July 20, Haseeb said that she had already been under isolation after her husband tested positive for the virus.

He said that her contacts at the ministry have been identified and isolated, but did not reveal an exact number. Contact tracing is still underway.

Earlier this week, three mosques in the capital were closed off for disinfection following a confirmed Covid-19 case.

Maldives’ first few Covid-19 cases were confirmed from resorts, while a community spread was detected on April 15. While the lockdown easing was initiated on May 29, the country entered the third phase on July 1.

While most of the cases confirmed prior to this had mostly been expatriate workers, there has been an increase in locals testing positive for the virus since.

Health officials said that most of these cases were being detected from government institutions, who reopened during this phase on July 5.

As such, coronavirus cases have been confirmed from the People’s Majlis, Prosecutor General’s Office, Tourism Ministry and the Football Association of Maldives (FAM).