Maldives' Covid-19 cases rise to 5,157

Maldives’ Covid-19 total has reached 5,157.

116 new cases were announced on Monday; 77 locals, 27 Bangladeshis, six Sri Lankans, five Indians and one Nepalese nationals.

The cases were confirmed from the 1,163 samples tested within 24 hours.

While this pushes the country’s Covid-19 tally to 5,157, there are 2,303 active cases in the island nation currently. An additional 31 recoveries were reported on Monday, bringing total recoveries to 2,835.

There have been 19 deaths from Covid-19 thus far. While five more patients have been admitted at hospitals for treatment, there are 145 patients admitted at hospitals right now.

Maldives’ first Covid-19 cases were detected from resorts in March, and a community transmission was confirmed on April 15 after a woman with no recent travel history tested positive for the virus upon consultation at a flu clinic. A lockdown was imposed in the greater Malé region as well as a partial lockdown across the country with travel between islands banned, and authorities began easing this on May 29.

While the country entered the third phase in July, this allowed the reopening of borders on July 15. Over 6,000 tourists have arrived in the Maldives since, and some of them have tested positive for Covid-19 as well. As such, Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in at least nine resorts since border reopening.

Cases have been detected from 12 inhabited islands as well.

A surge in Covid-19 cases was seen after the country entered the third phase of lockdown with over 100 new cases detected almost daily, and this prompted authorities to reintroduce a curfew in the greater Malé region.