Dr. Sheena Moosa has stressed the importance of adhering to Covid-19 infection prevention measures, despite the ease of lockdown.

While Maldives has begun phase one of lockdown easing, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) consultant noted that there is still a risk of transmission within the community.

At the press conference held to announce phase one of lockdown easing on Wednesday night, Dr. Sheena said that the public’s compliance to the precautionary measures imposed by authorities contributed to the reduced infection rate in the country.

At the press conference, Health Minister Abdulla Ameen revealed that Maldives’ transmission rate has reduced to 1.4 percent from 3.8 percent and that contacts of confirmed case has decreased from 33 to six.

However, Dr. Sheena stressed that it is important to adhere to infection prevention measures even with the ease of lockdown.

Noting that lockdown is being eased “slowly” to control the infection rate, she said that the most important thing “is movement control” and urged the public to keep this in mind even with the various eases.

While authorities have said that “a full lockdown” will be reenacted if the country’s situation worsens during the first phase, Dr. Sheena said that the success of this depends on the people and the institutions rather than the healthcare system.

Maldives is easing the movement restrictions after a 43-day lockdown in the capital. The lockdown was imposed on April 15, after the detection of a community transmission.