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COVID-19: Maldives confirms 96 additional cases, 101 recoveries

Ahmed Aiham
22 August 2020, MVT 23:29
Maldives confirmed 96 additional cases on Saturday, raising the total tally to 6,660 cases, from which 2,521 are active cases. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI / MIHAARU
Ahmed Aiham
22 August 2020, MVT 23:29

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Saturday, confirmed 96 more cases of COVID-19 in Maldives with an additional 101 recoveries.

According to the agency, the new cases include 64 Maldivians, 26 Bangladeshi nationals, four Sri Lankans, one Indian and one Nepali citizen.

HPA stated that all of the newly identified cases were reported in the Greater Male' region.

With these developments, the island nation now records total 6,660 confirmed and 2,521 active COVID-19 cases, along with 4,113 recoveries and 26 deaths.

In addition to the Greater Male' region, active virus cases are pres-ent in 21 inhabited islands throughout 11 atolls in the archipelago.

Furthermore, HPA noted that active cases are present in 10 resorts across the archipelago, including four tourists and 13 staff members with confirmed infections.

After recording significantly low numbers in the months of May and June, the island nation recorded a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases per capita, indicating an alarming community spread in the country.

However, the number of recoveries have increased in the past few days, after the recent spike reduced the total amount of recovered patients from the peak 86 to the lowest 53 percent. This value currently stands at 61.7 percent.

The number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed 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. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives' capital Malé continues to record a significant number of COVID-19 cases, similar to the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15.

Noting the economic repercussions of implementing lockdown measures again, authorities have continually requested the public to adhere to HPA's safety guidelines to reduce the spread of the virus as life continues in the 'new normal'.

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 23.2 million people and claimed over 805,785 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 15.8 million people have recovered.

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