COVID-19: HPA confirms 24 new cases, 102 recoveries

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Thursday, confirmed an additional 24 cases of COVID-19 and 102 recoveries.

According to the agency, the new cases consist of 20 locals and four foreigners.

HPA revealed that all 24 of the new infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region with no cases identified outside the capital area.

In addition to the Greater Male' Region, active virus cases are currently present in 20 inhabited islands as well as 19 resorts across the archipelago.

With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 11,178 virus cases of which 1,038 are active cases, in addition to 10,097 recoveries and 36 deaths.

During August, 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.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers fell to two-digits during the most part of September. Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to over 89 percent.

Despite the sustained decrease in virus cases, HPA has renewed calls for citizens to adhere to protective measures to contain the spread of the virus, cautioning against a public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”.

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 39.8 million people and claimed over 1.1 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 29.7 million people have recovered.