Maldives reports first COVID-19 death

Maldives has reported its first death to the COVID-19 with the total number of positive cases standing at 280.

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen said Thursday that the victim was an 83-year-old woman from the capital Male.

First cases of COVID-19 were reported at tourist resorts in this Indian Ocean archipelago state and authorities for sometime kept it from spilling over into the community.

However, there is now a sudden spike in the number of patients in the capital island as well as far off islands with no traceable source of infection.