423 Covid-19 cases reported this past week; 55 on Saturday

The latest statistics from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that 55 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed on Saturday in the Maldives, bringing the total number of positive cases reported in the country up to 14,885.

3,129 samples were tested for Covid-19 within the 24-hour review period, out of which nine positive cases were reported from inhabited islands and 15 from operational resorts in addition to the 31 cases confirmed from the Greater Male' Region.

A total of 423 people tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week, out of the over 20,800 samples tested.

On Thursday, a 77-year-old local man passed away from Covid-related health complications. This is the 50th death linked to Covid-19 reported in the country. As of now, the Covid mortality rate in the Maldives stands at 0.34 percent.

13,813 people have successfully recovered from Covid-19 in the Maldives, bringing our recovery rate up to 92.8 percent. HPA statistics reported an additional 82 recoveries on Saturday.

With the increased recovery rate, active cases in the country has dropped to 1,015 cases, from Friday’s 1,042. 77 people receiving in-hospital care in different Covid-management facilities across the nation.

The past week saw the number of new cases reported stay consistently above 50 every day, with more and more cases being reported through Covid-clusters being tracked in resorts. The Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) and the Ministry of Tourism have advised caution on behalf of resort operators to ensure employees followed Covid-19 health and safety measures while observing quarantine and interacting with other staff in communal spaces. Healthcare officials continue to implore private businesses and members of the public to be vigilant of the steps they can take to prevent transmission of Covid-19 in light of the increased number of new cases being reported in the last week.

On Wednesday, the Maldives received a consignment of 100,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccines as produced by the Serum Institute in India, part of a grant aid program between the two countries. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced that the government will be providing free Covid-19 vaccines to all those living in the Maldives as part of the nation's Covid-19 response plan in the coming months, with top-priority given to health professionals and frontline workers as vaccination efforts kick off in earnest across the country.

The country remains in a state of public health emergency as the Covid-19 infection continues to spread among communities. The state of public health emergency was first announced in the country on 12 March 2020, and was most recently extended by the Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem in early January to last until 3 February 2021.