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EU, WHO support COVID-19 response in Maldives

Mariyam Malsa
06 January 2021, MVT 15:30
Representatives signing an agreement on the WHO, EU efforts to support Maldives. PHOTO: WHO
Mariyam Malsa
06 January 2021, MVT 15:30

The World Health Organization (WHO), country office in Maldives, with additional financial support worth EUR 1 million from the European Union (EU), pledged to strengthen emergency response capacities across the country to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Under the joint effort, support will focus on improving the management of COVID-19 cases through the provision of medicine, supplies and reagents to Hulhumale Isolation facility and Regional ICU facility. This will include facilitating green medical waste management in selected facilities.

Additionally, the initiative will also involve capacity building training for the critical care, case management and rapid response teams at the Huhumale Isolation Facility.

A regional ICU facility will be established to support regional hospitals, thereby boosting access to isolation and ICU care for COVID-19 patients.

Minister for Health Ahmed Naseem welcomed the EU contribution to the Maldives via the World Health Organisation.

"I would like to extend my warm appreciation to the Director General of WHO, Madam Regional Director, former and acting WHO Representatives for the continuous support and assistance in the COVID-19 response and management effort".

He attributed Maldives' successes in controlling the spread of the virus to the assistance extended by WHO, as well as partners such as the EU and neighbouring countries.

Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Denis Chaibi highlighted that the provision of funding to Maldives represented an element of the EU’s global pandemic response.

"Strengthening response capacities of countries in the South Asian region is an important part of ensuring that we all recover from this crisis together. Green recovery is important to prevent future disasters. In the case of the Maldives which is a major tourist destination, not just the local population but also tourists from the EU and elsewhere may benefit from a better response capacity of the medical system".

The EU Ambassador also added that the partnership with WHO and the Maldivian administration would prioritise vulnerable populations by working closely with local communities, in addition to addressing the impact on the health sector.

Acting WHO Representative to Maldives Dr Shushil Dev Pant noted that "the support from EU has been very timely and efficient".

"The support was much needed to operationalize the Hulhumale Isolation facility to meet the demands that come with higher number of cases, and to provide the best possible care for severe cases. The provision of life saving equipment and training critical team will improve recoveries".

Highlighting the importance of the WHO and EU partnership in assisting the COVID-19 response of the South East Asia Region, Dr Pant stated that WHO remained optimistic that the support provided to Maldives would enhance the virus response as well as improve the capacity of the overall health sector.

At present, Maldives records a total of 13,930 virus cases of which 658 are active cases, in addition to 13,217 recoveries and 48 deaths.

During August, 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.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers fell to two-digits during the most part of September. Throughout October the numbers had slipped further down below 50, with a few spikes on rare occasions, including the recent spikes as a result of four new virus clusters.

Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to over 94 percent.

HPA recently eased several safety measures imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. These leniencies include the cancellation of the city-wide curfew over the greater Male’ region, the reduction of quarantine periods to 10 days as well as cancelling mandatory quarantine for locals returning to Maldives and for locals travelling to resorts.

Despite the sustained decrease in virus cases, the agency has renewed calls for citizens to adhere to protective measures to contain the spread of the virus, cautioning against a public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”.

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 86.8 million people and claimed over 1.8 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 61.5 million people have recovered.

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