Police on Tuesday affirmed that no protests or demonstrations would be tolerated during the State of Public Health Emergency.
Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen on March 12 declared National Public Health Emergency as per Article 33 of the Public Health Protection Act due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns.
Under the directive, the right to peaceful assembly is limited for the preservation of common good as well as to promote public health and general wellbeing of the society, according to Articles 33(a)(4) and 39 of the Right to Peaceful Assembly Act.
Noting the great need for social distancing to contain the spread of COVID-19, the statement released by the authority urged all individuals to respect and abide by the laws of the country and follow the instructions issued by the Director-General of Public Health.
Several measures are being put in place to prevent the coronavirus from spreading at mass across the Maldivian community. This includes a recently imposed curfew in the greater Male' region imposed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), effective from Wednesday onwards, between 1700 to 2000 hrs until further notice. In addition, HPA also ordered the cease of public transport between Male', Vilimale' and Hulhumale' starting from 1200 hrs on April 2, during the set curfew times.
Presently, Maldives records 18 confirmed and five active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 13 recoveries. While there are two confirmed cases of Maldivians, no local to local transmissions have been recorded.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 860,00 people and claimed over 42,146 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 177,931 people have recovered.
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