Malé, Maldives – Health Protection Agency (HPA) informs that 38 percent of the islands, outside of Malé, have Covid-19 positive cases. Of the 189 inhabited islands, 70 are under monitoring status.
Lh. Naifaru has been under monitoring status for the longest duration since 23 March 2021. While a total of 894 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the island, there are currently 55 positive cases.
While speaking at the news conference held previously by the HEOC, Ahmed Nazim from the Atoll Preparedness team said that the virus is seen from the majority of the islands under monitoring status due to individuals who violated the quarantine rules and went to crowded places, and from people who were tested for the virus because they were symptomatic.
Since then the Covid-19 crisis has deteriorated rapidly in the country with islands reporting deaths for the first time. Covid-19 related deaths have been recorded from Lh. Atoll, L. Atoll and Addu City in the past week.
HEOC advises all the people currently residing in the monitoring islands to maintain their activities according to the guidelines provided by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).
Maldives recorded 780 cases yesterday, with 571 from the Malé area, while 205 cases were from inhabited islands. The figures also included 04 case from operational resorts which brought up the total active cases in the country to 24,205.
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 218 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
