COVID-19: Maldives records 140 new cases, 182 recoveries

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Friday, confirmed an additional 140 cases of COVID-19 in Maldives, while 182 recovered from the disease.

The new cases include 114 Maldivians, 17 Bangladeshis, three Indians, two Nepalis, two Emiratis, one Kenyan and one French citizen.

According to the agency, 134 of the newly positive cases were reported in the Greater Male' Region, while the remaining six were detected from islands outside of the capital area.

With these developments, the island nation now records total 7,469 confirmed and 2,568 active COVID-19 cases, along with 4,873 recoveries and 28 deaths.

In addition to the Greater Male' region, active virus cases are present in 32 inhabited islands as well as 15 resorts across the archipelago.

After recording significantly low numbers in the months of May and June, the island nation recorded a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases per capita, indicating an alarming community spread in the country.

With the increasing number of infections, the number of recoveries has also risen in the past couple of weeks, after the recent spike reduced the total amount of recovered patients from the peak 86 to the lowest 53 percent. This value currently stands at 65 percent.

The number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions across the Greater Male' Region. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives' capital Malé continues to record a significant number of COVID-19 cases, similar to the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15.

On March 12, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 24.7 million people and claimed over 838,300 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 17.2 million people have recovered.