Malé, Maldives – President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the Covid-19 situation in Maldives worsened after being under control for so long due to the easements given in April this year amid the local council elections.
While almost all restrictions that came with Covid-19 were dissolved in the first few days in April due to the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections, government had allowed people to travel to their islands to vote without undergoing quarantine. While the the voting areas were packed, Covid-19 positive people were also allowed to vote, although with specific restrictions.
Presidents remarks on the matter comes while 71 people have passed away this month alone due to to Covid-19 and daily cases have been above 1,000 for the past seven days with a total of 28,600 cases recorded in May month alone.
In order to decrease the spread of the virus, starting from today, more extreme restrictions are to be imposed by the government.
In the press conference held by the President’s Office last night, President Solih admitted that they had done many mistakes in April without considering the idea of a further spread of Covid-19. President Solih said that these included ease of restrictions while travelling and even in Malé.
As you said, I admit that we may have not done what was best during (last) April in easing the restrictions. We do not want to put the blame on anyone’s head.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of Maldives
President Solih also stated that they were trying everything they can in order to make the situation better and that he did not believe that the government had failed in managing the virus.
I still do not believe that we have failed in managing Covid-19. We are managing very well considering the availability of resources and health workers.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of Maldives
Health Protection Agency (HPA) had recorded a total of 1,004 Covid-19 cases yesterday. In the statistics released by HPA, it was detailed that out of the 1,004 cases, 835 were from the Malé area, while 135 cases were recorded from inhabited islands. The figures also included 12 case from operational resorts and 04 from liveaboards which brought up the total active cases in the country to 24,033.
With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the country has reached 58,345 out of which 34,159 patients have made full recoveries, as of 18:00 of May 25, 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 289 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.
Doctors are warning that Maldives that Covid-19 is out of control in the country, and everyone has to acknowledge instead of blaming one another to control the crisis. The healthcare workers are stretched to their limits. With the active health facilities in the country overburdened with Covid-19 patients, the non-Covid-19 treatments are threatened to be hampered. Medical professionals have repeatedly stressed the threat of medical facilities being overburdened to the point that they have to choose patients to treat depending on who is sicker.
