The government is working to control Covid-19 without having to return to a state of lockdown, says President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The president said this in response to a question, after arriving at the scene of Friday night’s fire.

Noting that other preventive measures are being imposed to avoid returning to a lockdown, Solih said that they are doing everything to control the virus without it reaching to this.

However, he stressed that the only solution is following the Health Protection Agency (HPA)’s guidelines including wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.

The president warned that a second lockdown may be imposed, if the cases continue to increase due to failure to follow safety measures.

Noting that doing so will bring various hardships to the people, Solih said that he will do what is required to ensure the safety of all.

With the start of the third phase of lockdown easing on July 1, there was a surge in Covid-19 infections with over 100 new cases reported almost daily since.

While the country’s first Covid-19 cases were detected from resorts in March, a community spread was confirmed on April 15 and a lockdown was announced in the capital region as well as a partial lockdown across country with travel between islands banned.

Lockdown easing began on May 29, which led to a spike in cases by the time the country entered the third phase, prompting authorities to strengthen Covid-19 safety measures in the capital, this month.

As such, face masks were made compulsory in public from August 1 while a curfew was reintroduced a few days later. Further, a restriction on vehicle movement from 8pm to 5am was announced last week.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that the latest measure is to restrict the movement and social activities of youth, noting that most of the confirmed Covid-19 cases are within this age group.