The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has halted antibody sample collection under the Covid-19 seroprevalence study initiated to identify the spread of coronavirus in the greater Malé region.

The public health authority revealed that the sample collection process is on hold for Thursday and Friday, and will resume from Saturday onward, for those who get selected.

Selected individuals have been sought to visit the sampling sites from 4pm to 7pm.

During an earlier press briefing at the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC), the center’s spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq revealed that they require more public cooperation and support for the study, in order to complete the study as quickly as possible.

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s methodology will be followed during the program and the survey to identify seroprevalence individuals will be divided into four age groups. This includes under 18-years of age, those aged between 18 – 34, the 35 – 59 age group and those over 60-years of age. Healthcare workers began the study with the testing of the under-18 age group, comprising mostly of students.

Healthcare workers will be collecting samples from about 4,098 individuals under the study and testing will be conducted on randomly selected individuals who will be notified an address and time to provide samples, via text message.

The biggest purpose of the study is to determine the percentage of the community that has been exposed to the virus which will in turn allow authorities to identify the rate of Covid-19 transmission and explore ways through which their procedures and measures may be enhanced.

The antibody testing is being conducted in collaboration with the Maldives National University and they have been testing those who have been randomly selected, from October 22. The testing will be carried out at the MNU Central and Faculty of Health Sciences through November 12, from 4pm to 7pm.