Health Protection Agency (HPA) is preparing to conduct a sixth round of mass inspection of general service providers, public and private transport systems in Male' City following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

HPA has previously conducted five such rounds of mass inspections for transport, commercial and service-oriented spaces in Male' City, to confirm if they adhere to the health and safety regulations established by HPA to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

In this vein, HPA conducted an inspection of government offices in October last year to oversee the degree to which Covid-19 regulations were being implemented within the civil service. Additionally, restaurants, shops, fitness centers, salons and market spaces were inspected across four different rounds of mass inspections in previous months.

According to the press release by HPA announcing the sixth round of mass inspection, private and public transport systems will also be scrutinized based on how well they follow Covid-19 health and safety regulations set forth by HPA. The inspection will be conducted in association with the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and other government authorities in the Greater Male' Region.

HPA explained that mass inspections were being conducted as a measure to control the spread of Covid-19 at a time the number of new cases of Covid-19 being reported in the country have been on the rise.

HPA has also announced that they will be pursuing action against commercial and service-oriented spaces that do not follow procedures set forth by the Director General of Public Health for operations during a state of public health emergency. A specific date has not been made public for when the inspection will be conducted.