“Not yet time for parties and mass gatherings”

Despite a gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases, it is not yet time for parties and social gatherings.

Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC)’s spokesperson, Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said this during Saturday night’s Covid-19 press briefing.

Noting that there has been a “slight” decrease in cases detected, the doctor said that it ‘does not mean that we should be careless’ about infection prevention measures.’

Asking all to keep in mind that the virus is still around, she said that infection rate has not decreased.

Hence, she reiterated the appeal to stay home unless absolutely necessary, and refrain from attending parties and mass gatherings.

In addition, Dr. Nazla urged all to follow of Covid-19 safety guidelines, especially home quarantine orders after traveling to outlying islands from the capital.

Noting that this is one of the most important steps to control the spread in island communities, she appealed to inform the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of any such violations.

Those found to be in violation of home isolation orders face up to MVR 5,000 in fines.

While there was an increase in cases detected from the capital in past weeks, the cases reported from islands have been on the rise recently. As such, there are active cases in a total of 28 residential islands currently.

However, most are individuals under home quarantine.