In a bid to control the worsening Covid-19 situation across the Maldives capital, authorities have extended curfew hours and strengthened measures in place.

As such, the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) revealed that the strengthened measures will be effective from 26 May for a two-week period.

Strengthened measures include the extension of the curfew hours in the Greater Malé Region, which was reinstated earlier in May, from 4pm to 8am.

Further, residents will not be allowed to go out, outside of curfew hours either, unless under a residential permit, two of which will be granted to each household starting Wednesday.

Out of the two residential permits to be granted to each household, one will be effective from 8am to 12pm, while the other will be in effect from 12pm to 4pm.

Residents may request for the permits starting 8pm Monday and are required to include their electricity meter numbers as a verification when requesting the permits.

With the strengthened measures, Malé City and its suburban extension Villimalé will be monitored as a single zone and Hulhumalé will be a separate zone. Permits may only be used accordingly. As such, Malé zone residents will not be allowed to travel to Hulhumalé and residents of the latter will not be permitted to visit Malé.

The residential permits will be void during curfew hours, which are currently in effect from 4pm to 4am.

Should residents need to change the names under which permits were requested, they may only do so after 72 hours since acquiring the permit.

Delivery services under the strengthened measures will be allowed from 6am to 12am and establishments cannot use the delivery passes issued earlier. Action will be taken against individuals who visit shops during curfew hours as well.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic surfaced in the Maldives on March 7, authorities had been implementing a number of measures as part of the response efforts and announced a three-hour curfew across the region in April 2020. A community transmission was detection in the region on 15 April 2020 which provoked a full lockdown which remained for months before authorities began easing it in phases. The country is currently experiencing a devastating third peak of the virus. Spiking cases provoked a curfew and ban on vehicle movement earlier this year, however, authorities revoked the measures in time for the fasting month of Ramadan 1442 as well as the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee Elections held in mid-April 2021.

Since 8 May, daily virus cases have been reported above 1,000 almost every day and authorities have also been raising concerns over the surge in deaths linked to coronavirus. An average of five Covid-19 patients are succumbing to complications of the virus in recent weeks. There has also been increasing worry over the hospital beds filling up in facilities regionwide.