Addu atoll in the south Maldives has been placed on lockdown after a man from the second most populous island-city in the country received a false positive result for coronavirus Saturday.

A sample taken from the 43-year-old tested positive for the Covid-19 respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which originated in China in December, after he was airlifted to capital Male from Addu Saturday morning.

However, two subsequent samples produced negative results.

“The patient transferred from Addu Equatorial Hospital to IGMH who was previously found to be positive is now confirmed as negative to Covid-19,” the national Health Protection Agency (HPA) said on Twitter early morning Sunday.

Shortly after the man had the false positive result, mayor Abdulla Sodiq issued city-wide stay-at-home orders in Addu for two weeks from Saturday. He vowed to closely monitor all movements within, as well as in and out of the 15 square kilometre city.

“Any movement in public spaces will require a permit from the city council,” the mayor said.

Sodiq said the man was a native of the Maradhoo-Feydhoo ward but was residing in the Hithadhoo ward.

The man returned to Addu on April 30 after the resort he had been working suspended its operations, the mayor said, adding that the man had underlying heart conditions.

Local health officials in Addu isolated seven doctors and seven nurses that treated the man. Seven relatives that came into direct contact with the man were also asked to self-isolate at home.

Meanwhile, 41 new coronavirus cases were reported from the Maldives Saturday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said 40 new cases from capital Male were detected Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the 6.8 square kilometre island-city to 741 and the national tally to 784.

Saturday’s cases include 16 Maldivians, as well as 24 migrant workers, including 17 Bangladeshis, two Indians and two Nepalis.

The confirmed local transmission clusters in the country now include 433 Bangladeshis, 258 Maldivians, 62 Indians, eight Nepalis, five Sri Lankans and three Pakistanis.

Authorities managed to mitigate the spread of the virus and the Covid-19 respiratory disease it causes amongst the Maldives’ citizens and residents early on by closing the Indian Ocean tourist paradise’s borders, earning praise from the World Health Organisation.

But the disease is now spreading rapidly, especially within the large migrant worker community in capital Male. Authorities have ramped up relocating workers from the cramped up dormitories in one of the world’s most densely populated cities to temporary accommodation units.

An estimated 63,000 foreign nationals work in the Maldives illegally out of a migrant worker population close to 145,000.

Foreign workers in the Maldives, predominantly Bangladeshi and Indian men, are subjected to practices indicative of forced labour, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding or non-payment of wages, and debt bondage.

As most migrant workers live in extremely poor conditions, a widespread outbreak amongst them could lead to large virus clusters, overwhelming the country’s already under staffed and strained healthcare system and making it harder for authorities to contain the spread of the virus.

On March 8, Maldives reported its first cases of the novel coronavirus, as two hotel employees tested positive for Covid-19 at a luxury resort in the archipelago.

Eighteen more cases — all foreigners working or staying resorts and liveaboard vessels except five Maldivians who had returned from abroad — were later identified.

A six-case cluster of locals, detected in capital Male on April 15, confirmed community transmission of the coronavirus. Several more clusters have since been identified, bringing the total number of confirmed case in the Maldives to 784.

Three deaths have been reported and 29 have made full recoveries. Five remain in intensive care.

The Maldives announced a state of public health emergency on March 12, the first such declaration under a recent public health protection law.

The public health emergency declaration has allowed the government to introduce a series of unprecedented restrictive and social distancing measures, including stay-at-home orders in capital Male and its suburbs, a ban on inter-island transport and public gatherings across the country, and a nationwide closing of government offices, schools, colleges and universities.

Non-essential services and public places in the capital such as gyms, cinemas and parks have also been shut.

Restaurants and cafes in the capital have been asked to stop dine-in service and switch to takeaway and delivery.

A nationwide shutdown of all guesthouses, city hotels and spa facilities located on inhabited islands is also in effect.

The coronavirus outbreak has hit the Maldivian economy hard, as travel restrictions and other preventive measures affect the country’s lucrative tourism industry, which contributes the bulk of the island nation’s state revenue and foreign reserves.

Before the pandemic, the government had been bullish about tourism prospects, targeting two million, high-spending holidaymakers this year after last year’s record 1.7 million.

However, tourist arrivals saw a year-over-year decline of 22.8 per cent in the first 10 days of March. Officials say the number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives could drop by half in 2020.

All international airlines have suspended scheduled operations to the Maldives, as the island nation enforced a blanket suspension of on-arrival visa in late March in a bid to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Even before the visa suspension, the Maldives had closed its borders to arrivals from some of the worst-hit countries, including mainland China, Italy, Bangladesh, Iran, Spain, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Visitors from three regions of Germany (Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg), two regions of France (Île-de-France and Grand Est) and two regions of South Korea were also banned from entering the country.

All direct flights to and from China, Italy, South Korea and Iran were also cancelled.

Cruise ships and foreign yachts were also banned from docking at any of the country’s ports.

With arrival numbers falling and the visa suspension in effect, several resorts across the Maldives had been closed.

Tourism has been the bedrock of the Maldives’ economic success. The $5 billion-dollar economy grew by 6.7 per cent in 2018 with tourism generating 60 per cent of foreign income.

However, the government is at present projecting a possible 13 per cent economic contraction this year — an estimated $778 million hit.

Note: This article was updated at 2.11am Sunday local time to reflect the double negative result announced later by the authorities.

Photo: Addu Equatorial Hospital. PHOTO/ ADDU CITY COUNCIL