COVID-19: Maldives records 42 more cases, 18 recoveries

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Saturday, announced that 42 additional individuals tested positive for COVID-19 while 18 more recovered.

According to the agency, the new cases consist of 28 locals and 14 foreigners.

HPA revealed that 32 of the new infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region while the remaining 10 cases were identified outside the capital area.

In addition to the Greater Male' Region, active virus cases are currently present in seven inhabited islands as well as 26 resorts across the archipelago.

A total of 59 tourists and 80 staff members are among the current active cases in the country.

Earlier in the day, HPA confirmed a COVID-19 related death of a 57-year-old Maldivian male, admitted at Hulhumalé Medical Facility (HMF)’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He He passed away at 1424 hrs.

With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 12,154 virus cases of which 843 are active cases, in addition to 11,262 recoveries and 42 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. Throughout October the numbers had slipped further down below 50, with a few spikes on rare occasions.

Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to over 92 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 54.0 million people and claimed over 1.3 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 37.6 million people have recovered.