Backlog tests pushes Maldives' daily Covid-19 infections past 1,500 case-mark

Maldives reported over 1,500 new Covid-19 cases of Tuesday, with over 1,200 infections detected from the nation's congested capital, Male' City.

Latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reveal that a total of 1,501 new Covid-19 infections were detected nationwide between 6pm Monday and 6pm Tuesday. This is the greatest number of daily new Covid-19 cases detected in the Maldives since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

1,229 of the 1,501 new cases reported Tuesday were from the Male' area, with 265 new cases reported from inhabited islands, and seven cases from operational resorts.

Health authorities tested a total of 6,208 samples for the infection between Monday and Tuesday.

With over a thousand new infections reported over the past three days, Maldives' total Covid-19 tally is now 38,520. There are currently 11,629 active cases of Covid-19 across different parts of the country.

By the end of Tuesday, there were 247 people receiving in-hospital care for Covid-19 in Maldives, with the island nation most recently having confirmed the 87th death linked to the infection.

A further 248 recoveries from the infection were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total number of recoveries observed for the infection in Maldives up to 26,795.

Covid-19 health and safety restrictions were eased across the densely-populated capital ahead of Ramazan and the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections, following which there has been a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases being reported in the city. Male' City was rocked by an explosion in an assassination attempt against former president Mohamed Nasheed on earlier this week, following which there has been increased police and military presence across the city.

During a press conference held on Tuesday evening, Spokesperson for the President's Office Mabrook Azeez revealed that six patients were being treated at the 11th floor of Dharumanvantha Hospital, and that three people had been placed on a ventilator for treatment. He added that six Covid-19 patients were receiving treatment at Hulhumale' Hospital, including two that had been placed on ventilators.

Spokesperson Mabrook revealed that authorities were now preparing for the possibility of a full lockdown if Covid-19 transmissions are not controlled, despite a number of stricter measures being implemented, such as a 12-hour curfew in the capital city beginning Wednesday.

The Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) have also revealed that monitoring would be discontinued on islands only after a discussion, and based on the Covid-19 test results of 30 percent of that islands population. Health authorities have advised strict caution as the Maldives battles a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections with more than 11,000 active cases, and assure that a full and damaging lockdown can be avoided if Covid-19 health and safety measures are successful in preventing the virus from spreading,