Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has urged the public to be cautious of wide-spreading chickenpox and the viral flu in the capital city, Malé.

The reveal was made via a statement on Saturday, which reads that there has been an observable rise in viral flu and chickenpox cases in the capital in recent days, as such, the hospital has urged the public, especially children, the elderly, those with weak immune systems and those who already show viral flu symptoms like fever and coughing, to refrain from visiting the hospital.

Further, the statement reads that those who have not completed the required two dosages of vaccination for the pox are at risk of catching the disease, if they have not caught it once already.

IGMH appealed on the public to take precautionary measures such as seeking vaccination doses for the pox, influenza and MMR as soon as possible, if they have not already done so.

The hospital went on to urge the public to refrain from hospital visitations unless absolutely necessary, as the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading at a dangerously alarming rate in nearby countries and globally.

Although no COVID-19 cases have surfaced in the country yet, the global epidemic is far from being controlled in the mainland, China, where the fatal infection surfaced during December 2019.