Maldives reported the lowest daily increase in Covid-19 cases in months, on Saturday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA)’s nightly publication of the latest Covid-19 updates revealed that that all 24 new cases were detected from the greater Malé region.

Saturday’s cases were confirmed out of the 1,572 samples tested within the past 24 hours and include 20 Maldivians and four foreigners.

This is also the lowest number of local cases to have been reported by the public health authority in weeks.

Maldives Covid-19 tally has risen to 11,178 with this development.

Also on Saturday authorities reported over 100 additional recoveries after days of observing a low daily recovery count.

The country’s total number of recoveries currently sits at 10,097.

Maldives currently has 1,038 active cases of the virus, out of which 369 patients are seeking treatment at isolation facilities.

In comparison to Friday, the number of hospitalized patients increased by two, to 43.

Early Saturday morning, the public health authority also reported the 36th death to the fatal infection, when a 67-year-old Maldivian man admitted at the Hulhumalé Medical Facility succumbed.

There are active cases of the virus in 20 residential islands and 19 resorts, with the inclusion of 14 tourists and 25 resort workers. The number of active cases in residential islands is at 68, out of which 60 are Maldivians and the remaining eight, foreigners.

Over the course of the past week, 319 coronavirus cases were reported in the Maldives, out of which Saturday’s cases were the lowest in months. The greatest number of cases over the past week was reported on Wednesday, at 69.

HPA’s statistics reveal that Maldivians make up 63 percent of the total case count, with 7,158 local cases confirmed thus far since the pandemic surfaced on March 7. The remaining 37 percent are foreign nationals.

The public health authorities responded to the first case of community transmission in the greater Malé region by imposing a full lockdown. As the lockdown proved to be effective in controlling the daily surge in cases, authorities entered a lockdown ease plan in phases, nearing the end of May. Upon entering the third phase of lockdown easing, coronavirus cases being reported across the nation began surging once again, which provoked a seven-hour curfew and nine-hour restriction on vehicle movement during August. Recently, the curfew hours were shortened to five, from 11pm to 4am.