Covid-19: gov't lifts nine-hour movement restriction on vehicles in Maldives capital

Authorities have announced the decision to lift the movement restriction on vehicles in the greater Malé region from Saturday onward.

In a Twitter post early Saturday, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that the change in the restriction of vehicle movement from 8pm to 10pm is effective from October 3.

It has been noted that the seven-hour curfew period from 10pm to 5am, remains effective.

The Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) on August 22 announced the decision to implement movement restriction of vehicles in the capital region as part of the national efforts to curb the spread of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The restriction was implemented on August 23 and only allowed pedestrians to be active from 8pm to 10pm.

On August 4, the government announced a curfew across the capital region, days after mandating the use of face masks in public spaces.

Announcing the vehicle movement restriction in August, the authorities revealed that officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) will continue monitoring the streets to enforce the decision and that they will be taking action on violators. Violators were issued with warnings the first-time round and repeat offenders were slapped with fines and have their vehicles ultimately towed.

HPA has lifted the movement restriction in the greater Malé region at a time the number of daily cases being reported of late is well below 100. A surge in cases was observed upon entering the third phase of lockdown easing during July, and the curfew was prompted by hundreds of cases being reported during August.

Further, Maldives also extended the state of public health emergency declared across the entire nation on March 12, to October 6 for the seventh time.