Maldives reports 19 new Covid-19 cases

Maldives has reported a total of 13,493 Covid-19 cases since March, with 19 new infections and 17 recoveries announced on Sunday.

The 19 new cases were confirmed from over 3,100 samples tested within 24 hours, and include 10 from the greater Male’ region, six cases from residential islands, two from islands under development as well as one from an industrial island.

While this pushes the country’s Covid-19 tally to 13,493, with the 17 additional recoveries, a total of 12,895 patients have recovered from the virus. 48 deaths have been recorded thus far

There are 543 active coronavirus cases in the island nation, with most still in the greater Male’ area.

44 patients are receiving treatment at hospitals, three less than the previous day.

While Maldives' first Covid-19 cases were confirmed from resorts in March, a community transmission was detected on April 15. This led to a complete lockdown in the capital, as well as a partial lockdown across the country with travel between islands banned. Lockdown easing began in late-May.

Authorities have been gradually lifting Covid-19 safety restrictions following the decline in daily cases since September, especially in the capital. As such, while locals and work visa holders that return to the country are not required to quarantine from Sunday, if traveling to the capital, those traveling to other areas still have to undergo a 10-day quarantine period. Further, the curfew in effect in the capital since August was lifted on Friday.