For a fourth consecutive day, Maldives has recorded over 300 new Covid-19 infections nationwide.

According to the latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Thursday night, 318 new infections alongside 128 additional recoveries from the virus were confirmed nationwide between 6pm Wednesday and 6pm Thursday.

Of this 142 were confirmed from the Greater Malé Region, 130 from residential islands and 33 from operational resorts. Further, an additional eight new infections were confirmed from liveaboard vessels, one from an island under development and four new cases from islands reserved for industrial purposes.

Healthcare officials tested 2,556 samples for the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours.

With this development Maldives Covid-19 tally currently sits at 29,370.

The number of recoveries from Covid-19 reported across the Maldives increased to 24,703 with the 128 recoveries reported between 6pm Wednesday and 6pm Thursday.

The number of active infections nationwide rose to 4,585 from 4,396 by Thursday’s end.

Over the past 24 hours, 12 more Covid-19 patients were hospitalized for treatment, meaning that the number of hospital admissions has risen to 134.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed 73 victims in the Maldives, which has a mortality rate of 0.26 percent.

Over the past one-week period, Maldives confirmed a record total of 2,286 new infections. This is the highest daily cases have been reported since the pandemic surfaced in Maldives during March 2020. The record highest was reported on Wednesday at 464 new cases of which over 200 were detected in the populous capital.

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 soon after, leading to the curfew and some restrictions being dissolved, however, daily infections have been recorded over 300 for a few days, rising up to 400 this week. Daily cases have been surging at a time Maldives observed the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee Elections in mid-April.

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.

Public health authorities continue to stress the importance of following Covid-19 health and safety measures set to control transmission of the virus, including social distancing, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining hand hygiene and effective masking while outdoors.