Maldives not yet in “green zone” despite less virus cases: Dr Sheena

Authorities declared, on Thursday night, that indicators do not place Maldives in the “green zone”, although the number of COVID-19 infections have decreased during the month of September.

Speaking at the press conference hosted by the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC), Public Health Specialist Dr Sheena Moosa addressed public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”, noting that the rate of transmission has not been reduced to adequate levels although the trajectory of the spread of virus shows a decrease.

Acknowledging a drop in the number of independent cases identified per day, she asserted that “the aim is to maintain the number of cases unlinked to clusters below 20”.

According to Dr Sheena, the preventive measures were slackened during the first phase of lockdown easement, before Maldives reached the “green zone”.

Based on the previous experience, she stated that easing measures prematurely and “returning to life before COVID-19” poses a huge risk of virus spread.

Therefore, Dr Sheena requested the public to remain cautious for at least two to three more weeks to ensure that the situation of Maldives remains in the “green zone”.

“It is not yet safe to ease the preventive measures”, she asserted.

Maldives currently records a total of 9,939 virus cases of which 1,301 are active cases, in addition to 8,597 recoveries and 34 deaths.

During 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 most part of September.

Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to 86.4 percent.