Maldives confirms six new Covid-19 cases, one hospital admission

Maldives confirmed six new Covid-19 infections and one new hospital admission over the past week.

This was revealed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in its latest figures publicized on Tuesday.

As such, over the past week, Maldives confirmed six new Covid-19 infections out of which just one was detected from the Greater Malé Region and the remaining five were reported from others including industrial islands, liveaboard vessels and resorts.

No new cases were detected from residential islands outside of the capital, between January 8 – 14.

In the reporting period, one new hospital admission was reported as well.

With this development, Maldives Covid-19 case tally currently sits at 185,708.

No new fatalities were reported from Covid-19 this past week, which means that the coronavirus death toll remains at 311.

Maldives reported its first Covid-19 fatality in April 2020.

Although there was a rise in the Covid-19 caseload in the past year, cases have begun dropping once more. A significant rise was observed especially in the capital region, at that time.

Even if the caseload has been decreasing, the public is advised to keep public and open spaces clean and disinfected at all times, on a regular basis. Stressing on the importance of regular sanitization and hand-washing, HPA also urged the public to get their vaccine doses against Covid-19.

The public health authority went on to encourage the public to continue the use of face masks if they are considered high risk or have high risk individuals in their circle, when out in public, if they exhibit symptoms, if they attend gatherings or events with large crowds of people, while using public transport vehicles like taxis, busses and ferries as well as while attending indoor activities and other places where public services are provided. This comes at a time the authority has also urged caution against the increasing air pollution across several regions in the country.

Maldives has been experiencing a surge in common cold cases as well in the past few weeks, due to the adverse effects of the monsoon season. Hence, it is important to follow safety precautions. As places that provide healthcare services are usually filled with high-risk individuals, HPA has urged the people to wear face masks when visiting hospitals health centers and clinics for the safety of everyone. The public health authority has also urged the people to limit hospital visitations and not visit hospitals unless necessary.

HPA announced a number of measures to tighten health and safety restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 across the island nation earlier this year.

The state of public health emergency declared nationwide on 12 March 2020, was dissolved starting 13 March 2022.