Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed the COVID-19 death toll in the Maldives has surpassed 200.
HPA confirmed two COVID-19 related deaths on June 15, which took the total number of deaths in the Maldives to 200. The COVID-19 deaths recorded include 183 Maldivians and 17 expatriates, according to the HPA.
The increase in COVID-19 cases in the Maldives, similar to other South Asian countries is believed to be due to the new mutated variants.
Speaking at a press conference, Spokesperson of the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq said six different variants of COVID-19 are currently spreading in the Maldives. Nazla said the variants detected in the Maldives include the variants from the United Kingdom and India, noting these two variants are the fastest spreading variants in the country. As such, she revealed 27% of the samples sent for gene sequencing had the Delta variant, which was first detected in India, while 20% of the samples had the Alpha variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom. She added 13% of the samples had the G variant and the rest of the samples had three more types of other variants.
The formation of new variants of a virus obstructs the efforts to contain the spread of disease. It also increases the danger of the disease, as different variants attack the body in different ways, and reduces the efficiency of vaccines.