Malé, Maldives – Commissioner of Prisons, Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu has said that inmates with underlying high risk conditions would be transferred to house arrest temporarily.
The decision by Maldives Corrections comes after the Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, who was sentenced to five years in jail after proven guilty of money laundering has been changed to house arrest.
In a tweet posted by Maldives Corrections Service, stated that the Former President Yameen was changed to home amid the increased number of Covid-19 cases in the island of Maafushi and also because officers at Maafushi jail also tested for the virus.
Health Protection Agency (HPA) had previously stated that there are 1261 active cases spread across 63 islands in the Maldives. The highest number of recorded cases are at budget tourist island K. Maafushi with 209 cases (178 locals, 31 foreigners).
In the statistics released by HPA, it was detailed that out of the 318 cases, 142 were from the Malé area, while 130 cases were recorded from inhabited islands. The figures also included the 33 new found cases from operational resorts, 08 cases from live aboard, 01 case from an island under development and 04 case from industrial islands which brought up the total active cases in the country to 4,585.
With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the country has reached 29,370 out of which 24,703 patients have made full recoveries, as of 18:00 of April 29, 2021.
While the country is currently going through one of the worst waves that has hit the country in terms of the pandemic, currently there are 134 patients receiving hospitalized care for the virus throughout the country. With majority of the hospitalized patients being in the capital, experts continuously reiterate the importance of taking preventive steps against Covid-19, such as maintaining adequate physical distancing, wearing masks and practicing hand hygiene.
Since the country recorded its first case of Covid-19, Maldives has reported 73 deaths in connection to Covid-19. The deceased are 65 Maldivian nationals, 6 Bangladeshi nationals, an Indian national and a Filipino national.
