COVID-19: Maldives records 32 new cases, 67 recoveries

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Sunday, confirmed an additional 32 cases of COVID-19 and 67 recoveries.

According to the agency, the new cases consist of 27 locals and five foreigners.

HPA revealed that all 21 of the new infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region with 11 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.

Maldives recorded its 37th virus death on Monday evening. The deceased was a 80-year-old Maldivian man, who passed away at 1550 hrs while receiving treatment at Hulhumale Medical Facility. With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 11,210 virus cases of which 1,002 are active cases, in addition to 10,164 recoveries and 37 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 90 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 40.1 million people and claimed over 1.1 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 30 million people have recovered.