A team of Indian Army medical personnel including six doctors and eight paramedics have been deployed in the Maldives since March 13 to set up a viral testing lab, Army Spokesperson Colonel said on March 16.

Earlier, Maldives had requested the Indian government to supply protective gear and masks, Maldives was also a part of the SAARC video conference held on Sunday that discussed the ways to combat Covid-19 spread. Coronavirus first originated in the city of Wuhan, China last December. The WHO declared pandemic has claimed more than 6,600 lives out of 173,285 confirmed cases, globally.