Maldives President Solih tests positive for COVID-19

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.

The president said he was in home isolation. President Solih's wife Fazna Ahmed had tested positive for COVID-19 in April last year. The president is fully vaccinated, reports said.

Solih had undergone a PCR test earlier. The president was set to travel on a poll campaign for an upcoming by-election.

The Maldives was one of the first countries to reopen its international borders to tourists in July 2020 even as several nations were in lockdown while battling the coronavirus wave.

The island nation has been hit by a new COVID-19 wave as the total coronavirus cases crossed 100,000 this week. There were 816 new COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday worrying health officials.

Health officials in the country have ramped up testing across the island nation even as virus cases have surged.

The Maldives had reported the first coronavirus-related death in April 2020. Reports claim 264 people have died to the virus with two deaths reported this year as cases have surged in capital Malé. 

The authorities have banned events of more than 50 people and clamp down on popular night markets. Reports say those who are unvaccinated will have to undergo mandatory quarantine for two weeks during travel and would need to show a negative PCR test. 

Maldives had reported the first Omicron variant case on December 5 last year amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

(With inputs from Agencies)