Dr. Shah Mahir warns of possible prevalence of India Covid-19 variant

Minister of State for Health Dr. Shah Mahir has stated that it is possible that variants of Covid-19 from India could be spreading in the Maldives.

Dr. Shah Mahir made the remarks in a press conferences hosted by the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) on Thursday, after a record number of daily new Covid-19 infections were reported across Maldives. Dr. Mahir stated that it was possible that variants of Covid-19 from India could be spreading in the country, and that the Covid-19 virus had been scientifically proven to mutate over time.

Dr. Shah adde that India had been struggling to battle the virus as a result of possible mutations, and that it was likely that Maldives could face a similar problem in dealing with the pandemic.

Minister of State for health Dr. Shah Mahir revealed that authorities were working to confirm whether there were new variants of Covid-19 spreading in the country, and that additional samples would be sent abroad for testing in the next week.

Speaking at the press, Dr. Nazla Mustafa of the HEOC's Technical Advisory Group warned that despite the effectivity and successful distribution of vaccines, it was likely that a variant of Covid-19 immune to those vaccines could develop if cases continue to multiply as they are now. Dr. Nazla Mustafa went on to state that it was necessary to strengthen Covid-19 health and safety restrictions in Male' City, where over 200 new cases of Covid-19 were detected on Wednesday.

However, public health authorities declined to announce strengthening of pandemic safety measures at the press conference held on Thursday.

The new variant of Covid-19 identified in India is known to have two mutations, with scientists having found that they are less easily beaten by present Covid-19 vaccines. India is currently home to the world's worst Covid-19 outbreak, and it is likely that the infection's new mutations will spread to different parts of the world within the next few weeks.