COVID-19: Confirmed cases top 9,000 in Maldives

The total number of confirmed cases in Maldives exceeded 9,000 on Saturday as the Health Protection Agency (HPA) announced an additional 62 cases of COVID-19, as well as 209 recoveries.

According to the agency, the new cases include 44 locals and 18 foreigners.

HPA revealed that 51 of the additional infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region, while the remaining 11 cases were detected from islands outside of the capital area.

With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 9,052 virus cases of which 1,960 are active cases, in addition to 7,055 recoveries and 31 deaths.

In addition to the Greater Male' region, active virus cases are currently present in 28 inhabited islands as well as 26 resorts across the archipelago.

During the last month, authorities tightened the safety measures implemented in the Greater Male' region, following an alarming upsurge of COVID-19 cases after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions.

Authorities have stated that the effects of implementing stricter measures will be reflected in the case numbers towards the end of the month.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers have slipped down to two-digits during the past five days.

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 28.8 million people and claimed over 922,400 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 20.7 million people have recovered.