Covid-19 daily case count could drop to below 40 in less than two months, says Acting Health Minister Mohamed Aslam.

Aslam, who is the Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, said this after being summoned to the first parliament sitting of the third session on Monday.

Noting that the daily case count was below 40 when the lockdown in the capital region was lifted, Aslam said that they expect it to return to this “without a additional wave” in about one and a half months.

He said that new cases have been on a gradual decline after a “second wave,” adding that the basic reproduction number of Covid-19 in the island nation is “just below one.”

While the country saw a surge in cases after entering the third phase of lockdown easing in July, there was a decrease in daily new cases in September, compared to the previous month. Daily cases were above 100 for most of August.

Authorities imposed additional Covid-19 safety measures in the capital region including a curfew and vehicle movement restriction, following the spike in cases from late July.

The nine-hour vehicle movement restriction order was lifted this past weekend. However, the 10pm curfew remains.