No plans to return to a state of lockdown: health minister

No plans to return to a state of lockdown, says Health Minister Abdulla Ameen.

The minister made the announcement during an appearance on RaajjeTV’s Fala Surukhee programme on Wednesday night, where he said that the government’s plans are to impose the required measures to control the spread of Covid-19 rather than reintroducing a state of lockdown.

He added that this is what is important right now.

Further, Ameen said that the people must get used to living in a new normal, with the virus.

Stressing that the Covid-19 risks are still very real, the health minister expressed concern over the possibility of the country’s health system being overloaded given a huge surge in cases.

However, he said that there is hope that the virus can be controlled with the required preventive measures.

Noting that there are no plans to return to a lockdown as of now, Minister Ameen stated that the government decided to reopen the country’s borders as they did not want to extend lockdown.

While Maldives’ borders were closed on March 27, international flights resumed during the third phase of lockdown easing on July 15. Despite lockdown easing being initiated, the state of public health emergency extended on March 12, has been extended until August 7.

Also on the RaajjeTV show, the health minister spoke on the possibility of making face masks mandatory.

Ameen, who led by example and chose to keep his mask on for the duration of the interview conducted at the RaajjeTv studios, said that he does not see a reason as to why masks should not be made mandatory.

The minister noted that guidelines for this have already been established.

Maldives reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in months as well as a record number of infected locals, this week. As such, a total of 137 cases were confirmed this Tuesday, including 92 locals. Further, an American tourist that arrived in the island nation since borders were reopened, has tested positive for the virus already.