The Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC), on Tuesday, declared Maldives a “high risk” country, with its sudden surge of COVID-19 cases.
Speaking at a press briefing held by HEOC, public health expert Dr Sheena Moosa attributed the steep increase of virus cases to the fact that 30 percent of the newly identified infections consist of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant which emerged in the United Kingdom (UK) late last year.
She estimated that the number of virus cases will increase in the future due to the contagiousness of the new variant.
She noted that the situation in Maldives had deteriorated into a “no longer safe” state due to its sluggishness in taking proper safety measures as new variants of the virus popped up across the globe, as well as the lack of adherence to precautionary rules and regulations.
Expressing concern about the low compliance levels exhibited by the public as the third wave of the pandemic sweeps across the island nation, Dr Sheena urged everyone to strictly adhere to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) guidelines to control the spread of the virus.
With the number of symptomatic virus patients at an all time high, with 55 percent of all new cases exhibiting symptoms, health experts are also distressed about the added burden on health facilities.
The largest private facility in Maldives, ADK Hospital, halted OPD and admission services on Sunday, due to an outbreak linked to the hospital.
As health workers get overwhelmed, Dr Sheena reminded that their response time will be further delayed, which in turn will contribute to a heightened spread of the virus.
Due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Maldives, HPA announced to tighten curfew hours and vehicle movement restrictions across the Greater Male' Region from February 3 onwards, for a period of 14 days.
The new curfew prohibits civilians from roads and public spaces between 2300 to 0430 hrs, while vehicle movements are banned between 2030 to 0430 hrs.
The restrictions are implemented across capital Male', its suburbs Vilimale' and Hulhumale', airport island Hulhule', industrial island Gulhifalhu and landfill island Thilafushi.
During these two weeks, HPA will also implement a ban on parks and other public spaces, with the exception of outdoor gyms which may be used for individual exercise in accordance with virus safety guidelines. Similarly, team sports are also temporarily banned.
Other stringent measures introduced by HPA on Tuesday, coming into effect on February 3, to curb the spread of COVID-19 include a two-week shutdown of colleges and preschools, and daycare centres.
Furthermore, in a new first, HPA mandated individuals permitted to travel from Male' to other islands for essential and urgent purposes, to obtain a negative PCR test 72-hours prior to departure.
Currently, the island nation records a total of 16,056 virus cases of which 1,807 are active cases, in addition to 14,190 recoveries and 52 deaths.
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