Malé, Maldives — Dr. Nazla Rafeeq of Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) states that although there has been a gradual decrease in the number of confirmed cases, it is still not the time for parties and mass gatherings yet.
During Saturday night’s Covid-19 press briefing, Dr. Nazla noted that while a “slight” decrease in the number of confirmed cases are seen, doctors warned that it ‘does not mean that we should be careless’ about infection prevention measures.’
While asking all individuals to be aware of the virus that could be surrounding us, Dr. Nazla mentioned that the infection rate has still not decreased.
Therefore, Dr. Nazla continued to remind individuals to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary, and to refrain from attending parties and mass gatherings.
She also urged all individuals to follow Covid-19 safety guidelines. While mentioning that it is one of the most important steps to control the spread in island communities, Dr. Nazla adviced individuals to adhere to home quarantine orders after traveling to outlying islands from the capital city Malé. She also appealed to inform the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of any violations.
Those who violate home isolation orders are to be faced up to MVR 5,000 in fines.
While an increase in the number of confirmed cases were seen in Malé over the past few weeks, the cases reported from the islands of Maldives have also been on the rise recently. Although most confirmed cases are of individuals under home quarantine, a total of 28 residential islands have active cases at present.
