Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) has stated there is currently no plan to further tighten the COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the Maldives.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of HEOC said the COVID-19 positivity rate is currently maintained at the same level, including the positivity rate among people visiting flu clinics. However, he said there is still a major community spread situation in the Maldives, as indicated by the number of people testing positive from random samples.
Dr. Shaheed said despite the high numbers of positive COVID-19 tests, number of deaths and patients requiring hospitalisation have started to decrease, which is an encouraging sign. He said HEOC does not plan to further tighten the restrictions, although current restrictions will be maintained until the current situation can be overcome. He said decisions will be made by HEOC on a weekly basis, based on the trends of spread.
Maldives is currently experiencing its third and so far the worst wave of COVID-19. On average, the daily number of COVID-19 cases have been above 100 since the start of the year.