COVID-19: HPA confirms 99 new cases, 174 recoveries

Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Wednesday, confirmed an additional 99 cases of COVID-19 and 174 recoveries in Maldives.

According to the agency, the new cases include 65 locals and 34 foreigners.

HPA revealed that 92 of the additional infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region, while the remaining seven cases were detected from islands outside of the capital area.

With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 9,427 virus cases of which 1,485 are active cases, in addition to 7,903 recoveries and 33 deaths.

In addition to the Greater Male' region, active virus cases are currently present in 20 inhabited islands as well as 29 resorts across the archipelago.

During the last month, authorities tightened the safety measures implemented in the Greater Male' region, following an alarming upsurge of COVID-19 cases after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions.

Authorities have stated that the effects of implementing stricter measures will be reflected in the case numbers towards the end of the month.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers have slipped down to two-digits during the past seven days.

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.

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 29.8 million people and claimed over 941,400 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 21.6 million people have recovered.