Greater Malé Region lockdown extended by 14 days

The city-wide lockdown across Male and the outlying islands comprising the Malé Region has been extended by a fortnight.

In a publication on the government gazette, authorities have revealed that the lockdown was levied under the State of Public Health Emergency imposed under the Public Health Act of the Maldives and it has been extended under the powers granted to the Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakuru to a period of 14 days on Wednesday.

Under the declaration, movement on the roads including vehicles and pedestrians in the Maldives capital and its suburban districts Hulhumalé and Villimalé will be banned alongside public transport services. Further, it bans anyone from entering or leaving the Greater Malé Region, which includes Malé, Hulhumalé, Villimalé, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.

The lockdown was initially imposed for a 24-hour period on April 15, after the discovery of the first case of Covid-19 community transmission earlier that day.

The lockdown was effective for a period of 24 hours from 03:30pm, April 15 and it was extended to another 24 hours the next day. On April 17, it was extended to a fortnight which expires on April 30.

Since the first community-transmitted case emerged from a Maldivian with no travel history in the congested capital, the number of confirmed cases in the country has surpassed 200 and authorities have assured that the lockdown will be extended if required. Since then, several houses in the capital as well as outlying islands have also been placed under monitoring and a whole new community transmission has also been discovered in the north.

Earlier, Covid-19 spokesperson, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz had revealed that the pandemic’s rapid response teams hold daily discussions regarding the situation, expected to worsen in the next few days.

The Minister of Health, Abdulla Ameen had earlier hinted that the lockdown might be extended, having said that the capital is not in a state for the lockdown to be lifted.