State of public health emergency extended once more

The state of public health emergency first declared across the Maldives on 12 March 2020 amid fears of the Covid-19 pandemic has been extended until 4 May 2021.

The announcement was publicized in a press release signed by the Minister for Health Ahmed Naseem, which stated that the Ministry had decided to extend the state of public health emergency, first announced on 12 March 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to 4 May 2021 as per the powers vested in them in the Public Health Protection Act (No. 7/12).

This is the 13th time the state of public health emergency has been extended.

The document further declared that the Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru had recommended the state of public health emergency to be extended, in order to implement restrictions and safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. A total of 67 people have died in the Maldives from the infection thus far.

The Maldives has been experiencing a devastating third-wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with authorities having raised the alarm as the fasting month of Ramazan nears. There have been an decrease in Covid-19 cases being detected from the nation's capital in recent days, where a curfew and vehicle movement order were dissolved just ahead of the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections scheduled to take place this Saturday. However, Covid-19 clusters continue to grow worryingly in outlying atolls, with several islands placed under monitoring as authorities continue contact tracing efforts to control the infection's spread. A Covid-19 cluster detected from the Felivaru industrial island has grown to encompass over 300 infections, and has caused health authorities to place all inhabited islands of Lhaviyani atoll under monitoring at this time.

Over a year since the Covid-19 infection was first discovered in the Maldives, a total of 24,783 people have contracted the virus from across the country thus far.