Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid on Friday, discussed the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic with Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Wang Yi, via a telephone call.
During the call, Minister Shahid praised the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping for its "extraordinary leadership" in its response to curb the spread of COVID-19, within the country and internationally.
In addition, Minister Shahid outlined the initiatives to ensure that the epidemic curve is flattened and that healthcare facilities and professionals are not overburdened within the country and touched upon the "extraordinary impact" that the virus is having on the Maldivian economy.
The Foreign Minister also met with Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Zhang Lizhong on March 15 and requested for assistance in fighting the novel coronavirus. After the discussions, the Chinese government soon announced that they have taken note of the various requirements of the Maldivian government in relation to the global pandemic.
The first batch of emergency medical supplies from China arrived in the country late March.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 late December, the prevalence of the disease in China climaxed in early February. However, the number of new cases have since dropped significantly, while deaths have dropped. Overall, the recovery outcome is greater than mortality rates. The country is currently working to manage the number of imported cases as the disease has spread worldwide.
Presently, Maldives records 19 confirmed and six 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 1.6 million people and claimed over 102,700 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 376,330 people have recovered.
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