As part of efforts by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to implement restrictive measures to safeguard against the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic, cafés and restaurants in the Greater Malé Region are to close for dine-in services by 8pm.

In an announcement on Thursday, the public health authority revealed that the new restrictive measure will take effect on Saturday and will remain in effect for a period of seven days.

As such, cafés and restaurants are required to halt dine-in services from 8pm, takeaway and delivery services are to be allowed until 10:30pm, HPA said.

The measure was taken in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the region, at a time daily infections have been snowballing and public health authorities have been raising concern over the spike in cases.

All institutions have been urged to implement the measure and strictly adhere to it, starting February 27 and the public has been pushed to act in accordance with measures and instructions set forth by the relevant authorities in implementing the HPA’s orders.

The newly introduced measures will be in effect at cafes, restaurants and other food outlets in Malé, Hulhumalé, Villimalé, Thilafushi and Gulhifalhu.

The measure comes at a time the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) has stressed on the high risk of Covid-19 spreading at an alarming rate due to individuals spending long periods of time in food outlets without their masks on, which is mandatory unless consuming food.

Although authorities have been avoiding introducing a second lockdown despite the emergence of the third Covid-19 wave in the populous capital which is also the epicenter of the virus in the Maldives, public health officials have been hinting that a second lockdown is not far from being imposed at this rate.

The first lockdown imposed on 15 April 2020 was proven to be effective and authorities began lifting it in phases during May 2020.

Authorities reintroduced a curfew in the Greater Malé Region on February 12, in light of the spike in daily infections being reported for the past couple of weeks. The nearly six-hour curfew from 11pm to 4:30am was followed by restrictions on vehicle movement from 6pm to 6am for Greater Malé residents.

At a time daily case count has been over 100 new infections for weeks, health officials confirmed 184 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the country’s Covid-19 tally to 19,364, out of which a majority has been detected in the capital region.