Police: Now is not an appropriate time to hold protests

The police have appealed to the public to refrain from holding protests amidst the worsening coronavirus situation.

In a press conference at the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) on Sunday, Chief Superintendent of Police Abdulla Shareef said that the police are aware of plans by some parties to hold protests, but that this is not an appropriate time to hold protests.

Shareef said that the laws do not allow for protests to be held at this time.

“Given the hardship we are already living in now, having so many people out on the streets increases the risk,” he said.

Shareef said the police appeal for the public to comport their behavior to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

He said that holding protests under the current circumstances also poses difficulties for the police, as officers dispatched to maintain public order during protests need to be quarantined and isolated.

He asked that the public refrain from holding protests.

The appeal comes after a demostration outside HEOC earlier this Sunday to protest against restrictive measures, and the opposition PPM/PNC announced plans to stage anti-government protests in residential islands outside of the greater Male’ region in the upcoming weekend.

A new restrictive measure, a ban on vehicular traffic between 08:00 pm and 05:00 am in the greater Male’ region, took effect this Sunday. Health Protection Agency (HPA) has stated that the restriction was imposed to limit the movement of the youth, who make for the greatest percentage of coronavirus patients in Maldives.

Maldives has 6,779 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 119 new cases recorded on Sunday. 4,222 patients have since recovered, while 26 have died from complications.

994 cases have been recorded over the last one-week period alone.

The country currently has 2,531 active cases. 162 coronavirus patients are hospitalized.