With over 200 new Covid-19 cases confirmed by sundown on Saturday, the country’s coronavirus case tally has exceeded 93,000.

According to the latest figures publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 218 new coronavirus infections alongside 85 additional recoveries were reported between 6pm Friday and 6pm Saturday.

This is the highest daily rise in Covid-19 cases, confirmed in weeks.

The new cases were confirmed through 4,246 samples tested for the virus in the reporting period, of which 20 returned positive from Maldives congested capital, Malé City, 188 returned positive from residential islands and 10 from operational resorts.

Maldives Covid-19 case tally has risen to 93,064 with this development.

Further, active cases rose to 1,933 from the previous day’s 1,801, with hospital admissions dropping to 15 with the release of one patient.

The total number of recoveries confirmed nationwide has also risen to 90,861.

Over the past week, the total number of daily infections confirmed outnumbered the recoveries reported. As such, 969 new cases were confirmed over the past week from the December 5 to 11, whereas recoveries were at 758.

Maldives reported its first Covid-19 fatality in April 2020 and since then, the death toll has risen to 257. The latest victim was identified as a Maldivian man aged 83. Seven Covid-19 fatalities have been reported so far in December.

Maldives confirmed the first case of the new, more transmissible variant of Covid-19, ‘Omicron’ on December 5.

HPA highlighted that the first case of the new variant was confirmed through genome sequencing of a tourist that arrived in the Maldives from South Africa on November 21.

The public health authority urged caution over the confirmation of ‘Omicron’ in the Maldives, pushing the public to take the necessary precautions for their safety and for the safety of others and to pay special heed to the instructions and guidelines set forth by the authorities.

HPA stressed on the importance of adhering to safety measures to avoid another Covid-19 wave from hitting the Maldives and urged the public to provide their full support and cooperation in helping authorities curb the spread of the infection.

The public health authorities have urged the public to get their vaccination doses, adhere to guidelines set place in hosting events and gatherings and even in the work environment to prevent the risk of widespread infection.

This comes at a time the government imposed a ban on travel from seven countries in Africa recently, triggered by the threats ‘Omicron’. Travelers have been banned from South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Eswatini, including those who visited these countries 14 days before arriving into the Maldives, as well as those who transited in these countries for more than 12 hours.

Further, the announcement reads that those who have travelled to the Maldives after spending more than 14 days in these countries and over 12 hours in transit, must observe a quarantine period of 14 days.

These new measures have been implemented at a time President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has also revealed that there have been surging concerns regarding the more transmissible ‘Omicron’ SARS-CoV-2 variant.

Research indicates that those who have recovered from Covid-19 are at a high risk of contracting the new variant, dubbed a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The country has been in a state of public health emergency for over a year, since 12 March 2020. It was extended a 21st time to expire on December 30.