Maldives confirmed 86 cases of the global Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed via its nightly publication of daily statistics, that the new cases include 72 Maldivians and 14 foreigners. This is the highest rise in local cases reported in days.

57 of the cases were detected in the greater Malé region and 29 from residential islands.

The new cases were confirmed from the 1,356 samples tested between 6pm Wednesday to 6pm Thursday.

The country’s total coronavirus case count has been pushed to 10,742.

42 recoveries were also reported by 6pm Thursday, pushing the total number of virus-stricken patients who have observed full recoveries, to 9,589.

With this development, the country currently has 1,112 active cases of the virus out of which 384 patients are seeking treatment at isolation facilities.

While 63 patients were hospitalized for treatment on Wednesday, the number rose to 67 by Thursday.

The outbreak has spread across residential islands within the past few weeks, after authorities permitted travel to and from the populous capital region, where most of the cases have been reported.

As such there are active cases of the virus in 18 residential islands and 20 resorts, with the inclusion of 11 tourists and 15 resort workers. There are 146 active cases across islands in total, with 82 local cases and 64 foreigners.

Kahdhoo island in Laamu atoll currently has the greater number of active cases at 59, followed by 55 cases from Gan island in Seenu atoll.

Since the week began, the highest number of cases was reported on Thursday. As such, 65 new cases and 54 recoveries were reported on Sunday, followed by 37 new cases and 63 recoveries on Monday. On Tuesday, Maldives reported 54 infections and 39 recoveries. The following day, 35 infections were confirmed and 81 patients recovered from the virus.