Maldives reports 1,007 new Covid-19 cases, 821 from the past day
The number of new cases of Covid-19 being detected in the island nation has been at a record high over the past week
The Maldives has been battling a devastating fourth wave of Covid-19 infections as the island nation's death toll nears 100
Maldives reported over 1,000 new Covid-19 cases of Tuesday, with 793 new infections detected from the nation's congested capital, Male' City.
Latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reveal that a total of 1,007 new Covid-19 infections were detected nationwide between 6pm Friday and 6pm Saturday. The past week has been the worst for Covid-19 in the Maldives since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, with the island nation reporting over 1,000 new cases of the deadly infection every day.
Of the 1,007 new cases, 821 infections were detected over the past 24 hours between 14th and 15th May, with 186 infections corresponding to positive cases from backlog samples.
793 new Covid-19 infections were detected from the Male' area, with 183 new cases reported from inhabited islands, and 26 cases from operational resorts. Five additional cases were confirmed from liveaboard vessels.
Health authorities tested a total of 3,159 samples for the infection between Friday and Saturday.
The Maldives' total Covid-19 case tally is now 43,782, of which 15,666 are active cases.
By the end of Saturday, there were 260 people receiving in-hospital care for Covid-19 in Maldives, with the island nation most recently having confirmed the 96th death linked to the infection. Two Covid-19 related deaths were reported in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A further 341 recoveries from the infection were reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of recoveries observed for the infection in Maldives up to 28,013.
Covid-19 health and safety restrictions were eased across the densely-populated capital ahead of Ramazan and the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections, following which there has been a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases being reported in the city. Male' City was rocked by an explosion in an assassination attempt against former president Mohamed Nasheed on earlier this week, following which there has been increased police and military presence across the city.
Pandemic safety measures have been strengthened across the Maldives once more, including the enforcement of a 12-hour curfew in Male' City last week. HPA has also urged civil servants as well as those employed in private companies to work from home in order to slow the spread. Health authorities also recently extended the quarantine period for travel within islands to 14 days. In addition to this, Covid-19 health and safety measures enacted across the Maldives have been extended for another two weeks.
Authorities had earlier revealed that discussions were underway on the possibilities of imposing a second lockdown across the Maldives' Covid-19 epicenter Male' City.
Public health authorities continue to stress the importance of following Covid-19 health and safety measures set to control transmission of the virus, including social distancing, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining hand hygiene and effective masking while outdoors.
Maldives has been in a state of public health emergency for over a year and the last extension is set to expire on June 3.
