After a devastating week, daily new Covid-19 cases drop below 1,000

After a devastating week of record-high infection rates and Covid-19 fatalities, the Maldives on Sunday reported less than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19, including backlog samples from previous days.

Latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reveal that a total of 741 new Covid-19 infections were detected nationwide between 6pm Saturday and 6pm Sunday. 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 741 new cases, 515 infections were detected over the past 24 hours between 15th and 16th May, with 226 infections corresponding to positive cases from backlog samples.

560 new Covid-19 infections were detected from the Male' area, with 156 new cases reported from inhabited islands, and 25 additional cases from operational resorts.

Health authorities tested a total of 2,881 samples for the infection between Saturday and Sunday.

The Maldives' total Covid-19 case tally is now 45,523, of which 15,958 are active cases.

By the end of Saturday, there were 262 people receiving in-hospital care for Covid-19 in Maldives, which is two more than the previous day. The island nation most recently having confirmed the 100th death linked to the infection since the pandemic first surfaced in the country in March 2020. In a series of tweets, health authorities have revealed that two Covid-19 related deaths were confirmed in the early hours of Monday morning.

A further 446 recoveries from the infection were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of recoveries observed for the infection in Maldives up to 28,459.

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 capital. 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. 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 on May 3 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. Over 3,000 children under the age of 18 are receiving treatment for Covid-19 in the Maldives, authorities revealed, adding that 7,495 youths between the ages 18 and 39 also having contracted the infection. 3,185 persons between 40 and 59 years of age are also being treated for Covid-19, alongside 927 people above the age of 60 who are considered at high-risk of complications from the infection. In addition to this, Spokesperson for the President's Office Mabrook Azeez stated that 284 parties of "unknown" age were also being treated for Covid-19 in Maldives, including expatriate workers.

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, with the last extension set to expire on June 3.