A 70-year-old local man has succumbed to Covid-19 on Wednesday.

The Health Protections Agency (HPA) said that 70-year-old passed away at 3:42pm on Wednesday, while receiving treatment at the Covid-19 treatment unit at Dharumavantha Hospital.

While this is the 53rd death from Covid-19 confirmed in the Maldives, most of the Covid-19 fatalities reported from the island nation are elderly locals.

Maldives has been seeing a spike in coronavirus infections recently, which has subsequently increased the number of patients requiring in-hospital care. As per the statistics publicized by the HPA, 186 patients were admitted at hospitals for treatment by 6pm on Tuesday.

Health authorities have expressed concern over the rise in cases, stressing that it could overburden the country's already fragile healthcare system.

A total of 16,155 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the Maldives since last March, and active cases are currently over 1,800.