COVID-19: TAG advises parents against taking children outside

Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a unit that gives counsel to the state on the ongoing COVID-19 response, advised parents against taking their children out of their homes despite the government commencing the second phase of easing lockdown measures on June 15.

Speaking at the press briefing held by the National Emergency Operations Cente (NEOC) late Saturday, TAG's representative and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital's (IGMH) doctor Ahmed Shaheed noted that many parents are now spotted on the road with their children, adding that this is not a good habit.

He advised parents on determining certain days and times of the week to go outside with their children.

TAG also expressed concerns over the number of individuals, in addition to senior citizens, who go out between 0500hrs to 0800hrs. The state allocated this time for people aged 65 and above to go on walks and exercise in public.

Noting that a lot of youth were also spotted outside at these hours, Shaheed said that "certain times are allocated for certain age groups to reduce the risk for high-risk individuals with a higher possibility of facing complications if infected".

COVID-19 most severely affects elderly citizens, individuals with underlying health conditions and children below five years of age.

Therefore, Shaheed urged others to stay at home during the time allocated for the aforementioned groups of people to go out in public.

"Actually, COVID-19's danger has not lessened. WHO also recently noted that the rate of infections are increasing all over the world. Therefore, we need to stay on high alert regarding this", Shaheed said.

Maldives presently records a total of 2,187 confirmed cases, out of which 389 are active cases of COVID-19. The country records 1,788 recoveries and eight fatalities so far.

As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives' capital Malé recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15.

However, the number of recoveries have continued to rise, with over 82 percent of patients now recovered.

WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 8.9 million people and claimed over 467,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 4.7 million people have recovered.