Maldives Police Service, on Monday night, revealed that five individuals found to have violated the rules of the lockdown imposed on the Greater Male' region, were arrested by the end of the day.
Spokesperson of Police Izmia Zahir confirmed these numbers, adding to the total number of arrests since Police announced stricter measures for people leaving their homes without authorisation during the lockdown that was extended until May 1.
In addition to the arrests, police also fined 76 individuals on Monday alone. Police had formerly stated that an MVR 1,000 fine will be imposed on those who violate lockdown orders.
With the first confirmed case of 'community spread', Male', Villimale' and Hulhumale' were placed under lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the outbreak, and to allow for feasible contact tracing.
Maldives' first confirmed case of COVID-19 from the capital city of Male', was recorded on April 15, involving a local woman who presented to the flu clinic in Malé after developing coronavirus-like symptoms.
However, the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC)'s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Monday, predicted that community spread of the virus began two to three weeks ago.
At present, the country has not identified an index patient for the outbreak.
As of now, Maldives records 82 confirmed and 66 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 16 recoveries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 2.4 million people and claimed over 170,498 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 652,551 people have recovered.
Sign In