Maldives’ Situation Worsens, Into 14 Days Lockdown

Friday 17th of April 2020

Maldives’ Situation Worsens, Into 14 Days Lockdown

After the first local case was tested positive in the Capital City of Male on 15th April, the total number of local cases rises to 8. Due to the fear of local spread, the government has decided to extend the lockdown to 14 days and islands outside Greater Male Region will follow separate lockdown measures from 17th April.

As of now, there are total 28 positive cases in the country, out of which 16 have recovered. Although the latest case confirmed by Health Protection Agency did not state any direct contact of the previous local cases, the remaining 5 were direct contacts of the first Maldivian tested positive in Male. During the lockdown, contact tracing will be carried out and any person who has had direct contact with the patients are asked to report to HPA.

As the numbers continue to worsen in the island nation, a 14 days total lockdown has been declared in the country. During this period, people are not allowed to go outside without the permission from Maldives Police Service and all public transport will be stopped. Further, effective from 18 00 of 17th April, there will be separate lockdown measures specifically for outside the Greater Male Region, including a ban on inter-island transport across the archipelago of 1,192 coral islands. HPA has also banned all social gatherings.

On 16th April, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih asked UN chief Antonio Guterres to provide aid to the Maldives and other small states from a new multi-partner trust fund established by the UN for Covid-19 response. The country has received aid from many countries and groups including $20 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development, $17.3 million from the World Bank, $600,000 from the Asian Development Bank, and $3.28 million from the European Union.