The government has revealed that about 126 cargo boats loaded with staple food items, have departed from Malé Region to outlying atolls.

Speaking at a routinely press briefing on Monday night, Covid-19 task force National Emergency Operation’s Center (NEOC)’s spokesperson, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz revealed that 36 containers measuring 20 feet and 21 containers measuring 40 feet were cleared on Monday.

Mabrook highlighted that the State Trading Organization, (STO) has also provided staple food items to outlying atolls. This includes 17,804 sacks of rice, 11,197 sacks of flour and 10,904 sacks of sugar to local shops and agents in outlying islands.

STO has also been provided abundant stocks of staple food to regions in the Maldives capital as well, including 6,311 rice sacks, 3,501 flour sacks and 3,103 sacks of sugar.

This comes at a time STO halted its services on Saturday due to an employee testing positive to the Covid-19 virus. However, the company resumed services the following day, after disinfecting their storage warehouses, outlets and shops.

In mid-April, STO resumed services at its online store, ‘eSTOre’ through which customers may place orders for essentials and groceries online and have their purchase delivered to their doorsteps.

The store was introduced in order to ensure customers practice physical and social distancing during a time the Covid-19 pandemic is sweeping across the globe at a swift rate, however, service was halted due to the lockdown imposed by the government on April 15.

The lockdown has been extended several times round and is set to expire on May 14.