Maldives reports first COVID-19 death

Maldives has reported its first death to the new coronavirus 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.