Malé, Maldives — The government on Sunday extended the state of public health emergency til 28 February 2022.
The statement by Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem read that this extension was recommended by the Director General of Public Health Maimoona Abu Bakr, To ensure the safety of the people and curb the spread of Covid-19 in Maldives.
The Maldives entered the fourth wave of Covid-19 with the onset of the Omicron variant in January 2022. Currently, cases are higher in the islands, with the most recent deaths also concentrated solely to the atolls.
The Maldives identified its first coronavirus case on March 7, and declared a state of public health emergency due to the pandemic less than a week later on 12 March 2020. The island nation has remained under a state of emergency since.
The declaration of a state of public health emergency on March 12 had marked the first time for the provision on the Public Health Act to be invoked, since the Act’s enactment in 2012.
