President Solih on COVID-19 in Maldives

Monday 16th of March 2020

President Solih on COVID-19 in Maldives

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has participated in a Video Conference, with SAARC Leaders, to discuss the South Asian Regional response to contain the COVID 19 pandemic. The video call occurred at the initiative of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Other participants were the President of Afghanistan, the President of Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister of Nepal, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, and Pakistan’s Minister of State for Health. They shared their country’s particular concerns relevant to the rapid and global spread of the novel Coronavirus.

President Ibu Solih notes that Maldives had been proactive in taking measures to contain the virus from January onwards. These measures include establishment of quarantine facilities, implementing detection measures and outlining standard operating procedures for quarantining, and advising residents to exercise personal hygiene, avoid mass gatherings and practice social distancing.

All the participating leaders and health experts restated the need for the entire region to collaborate in meeting the challenge posed by this global pandemic, by scaling up health cooperation and collective efforts to capacity build in this area, by sharing medicine, equipment and human resources.