The Minister of Health, Abdulla Ameen has revealed that the government is expecting to receive a shipment of ventilators within the ongoing week.

Speaking to press on Monday morning at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) established in Dharubaaruge, Minister Ameen revealed that authorities are working to bring in more ventilators, as the current ones are being operated.

As some of the patients who suffer from the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic more severely and are required to be put on ventilators, the government earlier revealed that they are working to bring more as the pandemic spreads.

AS such, Covid-19 spokesperson, Mabrook Aziz revealed to press earlier that currently, there are only 97 operational ventilators in the Maldives currently. These ventilators are being used in various hospitals, both private and state-owned, across several outlying atolls and the capital.

Further, Mabrook added that the government is working to bring in 70 more ventilators from abroad.

As of Monday, there are 19 confirmed cases in the Maldives out of which 15 are foreign and four are local cases. Currently being treated are the four Maldivians who tested positive after returning from the United Kingdom. 13 out of the 15 foreign cases have seen recoveries and the remaining two patients, two Italians who underwent a quarantine period after evacuating Island Safari 1, where two positive cases were discovered, are currently quarantines in Russia.