Two more locals succumb to Covid-19 complications

Two more locals have succumbed to complications from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic on Monday.

In Twitter posts after sundown on Monday, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that deceased are a 70-year-old woman and a 74-year-old man. A total of four deaths were reported over the last 24 hours.

The woman was being treated at Hulhumalé Medical Facility when she passed away at around 6pm on Monday, making her the 101st Covid-19 victim in the Maldives.

The local man was declared dead by doctors at around 10pm on Monday, after he was rushed to the Emergency Room of Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

This has been declared the 102nd Covid-19 fatality in the island nation, which is experiencing a devastating Covid-19 peak like never observed before.

The pandemic has claimed 53 lives in the Maldives during 2021, 29 of which have been reported thus far in May. This is the highest number of deaths to have been reported in a month since the pandemic surfaced in the island nation on 7 March 2020.

Authorities earlier stressed that Covid-19 fatalities had doubled in count since January 2021. As such, while four deaths were observed in January, the number increased to 10 during February. Six Covid-19 fatalities were reported during March as well as April.

With an alarming spike in case count over the past few days, hospitalizations are also increasing in comparison to the past month. Currently there are 268 Covid-19 patients hospitalized for treatment.

Maldives active Covid-19 tally is currently at 16,997 with over 45,000 infections having been confirmed nationwide. Authorities have imposed strict measures in the capital region as well as in outlying atolls in light of the spiking cases. As such, a 12-hour curfew is effective in Maldives capital from 4pm to 4am in authorities' efforts to slow the spread of the deadly infection.