Five more deaths push Maldives Covid-19 death toll to 182

Five additional deaths reported by noon on Saturday have pushed the Maldives Covid-19 death toll to 182.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that all five patients were Maldivian women, four of whom were receiving treatment at Hulhumalé Medical Facility.

As such, the 178th death was reported at 11:34pm on Friday, when a 72-year-old was pronounced dead by doctors.

A 64-year-old was pronounced the 179th Covid-19 victim at 00:42am on Saturday.

Another Covid-19 fatality followed 10 minutes later, when a 79-year-old succumbed to Covid-19 complications making her the 180th Covid-19 victim.

Maldives' 181st Covid-19 fatality was confirmed at 4:19am, when a 28-year-old succumbed to virus complications while receiving treatment on the 11th floor of Dharumavantha Hospital.

At 7:17am, doctors declared the 182nd victim, identified as a 68-year-old.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 133 lives in the Maldives during 2021 alone.

Maldives reported the highest number of deaths in a single month since the pandemic began, during May 2021, when a total of 88 deaths were confirmed. 21 deaths have been reported so far in June.

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 daily Covid-19 cases soaring above 1,000 into the beginning of May, authorities responded by strengthening Covid-19 precautionary measures and guidelines in place. Since then cases have been declining gradually with less than 500 new cases reported on Friday.