The Maldives Minister of Health declared a State of Public Health Emergency, approved with accordance to the Director General of Public Health for a period of 30 days on 12 March 2020.

Maldives government announced extending the State of Public Health Emergency for a second time, stretching the duration until 30 May 2020.

The decision for a public health emergency came due to the discovery of the first positive case of COVID-19 virus in Maldives; first discovered from a tourist property – Kuredu Island Resort.

Although the positive cases remain comparatively low and appeared relatively slow; situation in the island nation intensified with the discovery of the first case from Male’ City on 15 April 2020.

Meanwhile, Health Protection Agency (HPA) have claimed the viral outbreak have transitioned into a community spread in Greater Male’ Region with mounting positive cases reported every following day.

Covid-19 Case Updates

The figures reflected on the illustration is the latest development in Maldives as per Health Protection Agency and Ministry of Health’s updates.

Covid-19 From The News:

03 May – Health Protection Agency (HPA): confirmed 08 additional cases reported during the previous 24-hour cycle; lowest case confirmation numbers recorded in recent days.

03 May – Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM): raise concern over lack of adequate medical equipment and facilities at Shaviyani atoll Narudhoo – the second largest community outbreak venue after Greater Male’ Region.

03 May – Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF): the first Covid-19 patient from the country, a Warrant Officer of the military force was confirmed of making recovery from the viral disease and resuming his duties.

03 May – Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology: the Minister of the state body, Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal confirmed investigation was underway to identify hackers breaching the website of HPA.

03 May – Ministry of Tourism: the Ukraine based airline SkyUp scheduled to fly repatriation flight to Maldives on 08 May to fly out tourists and expatriates to their home country.

03 May – Anti-Corruption Commission: the independent commission’s President Mariyam Shiuna confirms 03 cases of fraud and corrupt conduct amid economic crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, are underway.

03 May – Maldivian Airline: repatriation flights take 131 stranded Thai nationals back to their home country. The national carrier confirms working with Thai Consulate to seek voluntary repatriates.

Covid-19 Case Figures:

 

• The total number of cases as of the last 24-hour cycle is at 527 (+1.5%) with 507 (+1.8%) active cases. HPA reported only 8 new cases within the last 24-hour cycle making it the lowest window of case confirmation logs in last 3 days.
• As of 02 May, Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed one more recovery putting total recoveries made at 18 (3.23%).
• From the 507 active cases 6 are hospitalized. Meanwhile total in quarantine is at 1,547 and 452 remain in isolation facilities.
• The figures mentioned in the above illustration are correct as of 17:00hrs of 04 May 2020.

State Decisions

29 April – The total lockdown period in Greater Male’ Region have been extended by another 14 days. The new lockdown deadline will last until 14 May 2020.

30 April – Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Thursday confirmed extending state closure period once again, effective until 14 May 2020.

30 April – Minister of Health announced extending the State of Public Health Emergency once again; stretching the duration until 30 May 2020.

30 April – Minister of Islamic Affairs have once again extended ban on congregational prayers until 14 May amid escalating COVID-19 crisis in Maldives.

Economic News – Highlights

Local

• Dhiraagu: the telecom giant donate 15 sampling kiosks to Ministry of Health. The kiosks ensure safer sample collecting apparatus avoiding direct contact between health professionals and patients.
• Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC): the transport and contracting company have successfully completed phase-2 of the Gaaf Alif atoll harbor construction project.
• Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA): the Maldives central bank exchanged USD626.6 million to the internal sector in 2019.
• Fuvahmulah City Council: the city council have extended the closure period on shopping outlets in the city amid ongoing community outbreak of the Covid-19 virus.

International

• United States (USA): the Western giant’s economy has suffered its “most severe contraction in more than a decade in the first quarter” of 2020.
• O2-Virgin Media: the mobile operator may be “set to merge with broadband giant Virgin Media” in a bid to create one of UK’s entertainment and telecom firms.
• United Kingdom: The Bounce Back Loans scheme went live on Monday with Barclays seeing 200 application “in the first minute and Lloyds 5,000 within three hours.” Meanwhile businesses have raced to secure loans under the new scheme.
• UK Airlines: the airlines of United Kingdom have reacted fiercely to its government suggestions over a 14-day quarantine implementation on anyone arriving in the country.

Updates from Press Conference

The following updates are extracted from the latest press conferences – held within the last 24-hours:

• Health Protection Agency (HPA): the health authority’s official Dr Ibrahim Afzal claim shoppers frequenting shopping outlets are more likely ‘vectors’ of the Covid-19 virus.
• Maldives Red Crescent (MRC): the humanitarian NGO confirm opening of a relief fund for migrant workers with most going out of work amid the persisting economic crisis.

 

Editor’s Note: The data represented in the format of news, article or bulletin in this report are collected verified and official sources countering the viral pandemic, as well as news releases, media updates and critical data from government institutions. Follow this space for more developments; updated in every 24 hours.

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