COVID-19: HPA confirms 67 new cases, 130 recoveries

Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Wednesday, confirmed an additional 67 cases of COVID-19 and 130 recoveries in Maldives.

According to the agency, the new cases include 44 locals and 23 foreigners.

HPA revealed that 62 of the additional infections were reported in the Greater Male' Region, while the remaining five cases were detected from islands outside of the capital area.

With these developments, Maldives currently records a total of 9,494 virus cases of which 1,422 are active cases, in addition to 8,933 recoveries and 33 deaths.

During 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 30.17 million people and claimed over 947,311 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 21.6 million people have recovered.