Maldives reports four more Covid-19 fatalities early Tuesday

Four more deaths linked to Covid-19 have been reported early Tuesday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that the deceased are all Maldivian patients.

As such, a 70-year-old man succumbed to Covid-19 complications at 3:41am on Tuesday while receiving treatment at Hulhumalé Medical Facility.

He was declared the 162nd Covid-19 victim.

The 163rd Covid-19 fatality was confirmed at 4:40am when an 87-year-old man passed away while receiving treatment at the Baa Atoll Covid Management Facility.

Another patient, 50 years of age, admitted at Hulhumalé Medical Facility was pronounced dead by doctors at 5:46am, marking him as the 164th coronavirus victim.

Doctors declared the 165th Covid-19 victim at 6:14am, when a 59-year-old woman died from Covid-19 complications while being treated at Hulhumalé Medical Facility.

Of the 165 deaths linked of coronavirus reported in the country so far, the pandemic has claimed 116 lives in the Maldives during 2021 alone.

Maldives reported the highest number of deaths to have been reported in a month since the pandemic began, during May, when a total of 88 deaths were confirmed.

HPA continues to report alarming numbers of Covid-19 fatalities across the Maldives, as the country struggles to control a devastating surge in daily infections being reported over recent weeks. Maldives is currently experiencing a devastating Covid-19 peak like never observed before, with daily infections soaring above 1,000 over the past weeks.

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. Four deaths have been reported so far in June.

With an alarming spike in case count, hospitalizations are also increasing in comparison to the past month. There has been increasing concern over hospital beds filling up across the Maldives capital, hit hardest by the pandemic.

Healthcare authorities have stressed that 65 percent of patients currently being treated at Dharumavantha Hospital are under 40 years of age and although elderly persons were observed to have been most affected by the virus earlier, circumstances have changed with the new and more infective wave of the pandemic Maldives is currently experiencing. Latest statistics also indicate that 211 children below 18 years of age are receiving Covid-19 treatment. Most of the patients being treated for Covid-19 in the ICU are observed to not have received a single dose of Covid-19 vaccination.

Doctors recently discovered a new pattern between the detection of Covid-19 symptoms and being brought into intensive care. As such, patients in ICU are observed to deteriorate within 10 days and more patients are being put on ventilator support as days pass battling the devastating Covid-19 surge.

Authorities have imposed strict measures in the capital region as well as in outlying atolls in light of the spiking cases. As such authorities strengthened measures to be effective from May 26 onwards. The curfew period has been extended from 4pm to 8am and individuals will only be allowed to go out outside of the curfew hours, under a special permit.