Male’, Maldives – Restaurant owners based in Male’ have taken to the streets to protest against the latest decision of Health Protection Agency (HPA) as an effort to curb the rate of Covid-19 infections in the region.
HPA on, Saturday night announced that a ban would be imposed on vehicular traffic between 8 pm and 5 am everyday until further notice, in the Male’ region, which seems to have enrages the business owners. They took to the streets on Sunday morning, expressing their distastefulness towards the decision.
The protestors explained that this decision will burden their already strained businesses, which were adversely affected, almost to the point of bankruptcy, due to Covid-19 and the restrictions that followed. Restaurant Association of Maldives (RAM) also revealed in a statement, that many businesses in the restaurant arena have already reached the point of bankruptcy.
The decision of HPA was not met with criticism by the restauranteurs, but also the general public, with many taking to social media to express their views on how the decision was not well thought out. HPA responded to the wide criticism stating that the decision was made in order to minimize the movement of youth and youth gatherings, which has been recorded as the biggest catalyst in spreading the Covid-19 infection.
Male’ region currently continues to record increasing numbers of the coronavirus on the daily, which in return is being met with stricter regulations by health care authorities.
