Government to lift curfew on Male’ city area

The government of Maldives has decided to lift the curfew measure on the Male’ City area.

The curfew was announced by the government five days ago as a safety measure against the Covid-19 virus in the Maldives and was in place for three hours starting from 17:00 to 20:00.

The Maldives is in state of public health emergency after the government made a declaration on March 12. The government offices in the country have been closed for nearly three weeks now and it was announced last night that the government would remain shut for another week.

Schools, colleges and universities have also been closed. Cafés and restaurants are also closed as the government urges people to remain indoors during this time and practice social distancing. The country has also stopped issuing on-arrival visas and begun repatriation flights to return locals stuck abroad.

A senior government official confirmed to “Sun” that the curfew will be lifted after discussions are held with the relevant institutions. The government will implement new measures after lifting the curfew.

Government spokesperson Mabrouq Azeez stated that the HPA will make an announcement regarding the curfew today.

When asked if the curfew was to be lifted, Mabrouq did not deny and requested to wait for the announcement by HPA for the decision.

After nearly a week of curfew, Police have issued cautions on 1,138 instances to people breaking the curfew rules. They include 954 locals and 184 foreigners. Only two people were fined by the Police for breaking curfew rules despite repeated offenders.