Maldives reported 157 new Covid-19 cases by Monday’s end.

Latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reveal that healthcare officials tested 3,122 samples for the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours, of which 157 came back positive for the infection.

Over a week after the public health authority had been detecting lower than 100 daily infections, cases began surging above 100 once again over the past weekend.

Of the 157 new cases, 71 were confirmed from the Greater Malé Region, 72 from residential islands and 12 from operational resorts. Further, an additional two new infections were confirmed in industrial islands.

With this development Maldives Covid-19 tally currently sits at 26,505.

The number of recoveries from Covid-19 reported across the Maldives increased to 23,691 with 100 recoveries reported between 6pm Sunday and 6pm Monday.

The number of active infections nationwide rose to 2,735 from 2,678 by Monday’s end.

Over the past 24 hours, eight Covid-19 patients were hospitalized for treatment, meaning that the number of hospital admissions has risen to 68.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed 71 lives thus far with four fatalities having been reported over the last few days.

The Covid-19 caseload began decreasing at a time Maldives drove through a devastating third peak of the virus during the past few months, which led to the reintroduction of a curfew and vehicle movement restrictions across the Covid-19 epicenter Malé City and several measures nationwide.

Daily cases being reported began declining recently, leading to the curfew and some restrictions being dissolved, however, daily infections have been recorded over 100 for a few days, rising up to 200 over the past weekend.

Despite the eases stemming from a gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases being reported, authorities continue to urge the public to strictly adhere to the precautionary measures and guidelines in place such as maintaining a safe distance, avoiding social gatherings, maintaining hygiene and following the face mask mandate.

Maldives has been in a state of public health emergency for over a year and the last extension is set to expire on May 4.