Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Thursday, confirmed an additional 68 cases of COVID-19 and 18 recoveries.
According to the agency, the new cases include 47 Maldivians, nine Bangladeshi nationals, four Indians, four Sri Lankans, three Filipinos and one Nepali citizen.
✳️ COVID-19 Case Updates
— Health Protection Agency (@HPA_MV) July 16, 2020
As of 06:00 PM
Confirmed an additional 68 cases of COVID-19 infections in Maldives
- 47 Maldivians
- 9 Bangladeshis
- 4 Indians
- 1 Nepali
- 3 Filipinos
- 4 Sri Lankans
Islands under monitoring: N Kudafari
Total number of cases: 2,899 pic.twitter.com/L6kOC68lSb
With these developments, Maldives presently has a total of 2,899 confirmed and 530 active cases of COVID-19. Thus far, the country records 2,339 recoveries and 15 deaths.
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.
After recording low numbers for several weeks, the recent spike of virus cases has reduced the total amount of recovered patients from 86 to 82 percent.
The number of COVID-19 cases increased after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions across the Greater Male' Region. Government offices and businesses including shops, cafe's and restaurants restarted services on July 1 while authorities reopened Maldives' borders for tourism on July 15.
On March 12, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 13.8 million people and claimed over 589,200 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 8.2 million people have recovered.
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