Dr. Nazla: Cases have begun dropping, measures are being complied with

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) announced on Wednesday that the weekly coronavirus numbers have begun dropping.

In a press conference on Wednesday evening, HEOC spokesperson and epidemiologist Dr. Nazla Rafeeq that the decrease in coronavirus cases is due to high compliance with measures implemented to curb the spread of the disease.

“The total positive cases last week were lower somewhat than the previous week. The drop in infection rate is due to great cooperation from you [the public]. Because many are paying attention to and complying with HPA’s guidelines,” she said.

Nazla said the success in lowering the infection rate is due collective efforts and sacrifices.

“But we want to note that though the number of positive cases may have dropped to some degree, we must not become careless with the current measures. Because we can only manage going ahead if the weekly cases drop. By maintaining all these safety measures,” she said.

The average daily cases in August had been within the range of 120 to 180 cases. 255 people were recorded to have positive on September 1.

However, cases began dropping last week, and the daily cases over the last two to three days were below 100.

Authorities have implemented multiple restrictive measures to curb the outbreak, and HEOC states that the majority of people are complying with the measures, and that the outcome will start becoming evident by late September.

Maldives has 8,834 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 93 new cases recorded this Wednesday. 6,288 have since recovered, while 31 have died from complications.

The country currently has 2,509 active cases. 127 coronavirus patients are hospitalized.