Health Protection Agency (HPA) announced on Thursday that a COVID-19 patient admitted at the Hulhumale’ Medical Facility has passed away.       
HPA identified the deceased as a 72-year-old Maldivian female.       
She passed away at 02:05 pm on Thursday.   
“This is the 280th COVID-19 death in the Maldives,” confirmed HPA in a tweet.      
It also marks the 3rd COVID-19 death in Maldives in February, coming less than an hour after a COVID-19 patient died in Lh. Naifaru.    
Maldives is currently battling a surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the new and more contagious omicron variant. Health experts expect the cases to peak by the end of January or beginning of February.    
Maldives has 143,202 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 2,142 new cases recorded on Wednesday. 125,190 patients have since recovered.           
The country currently has 17,721 active cases. 62 of the patients are hospitalized.