COVID-19: 35 new infections, 24 recoveries

Health Protection Agency (HPA), on Saturday, announced 35 additional cases of the new coronavirus, increasing confirmed coronavirus cases in Maldives to 13,618.

According to HPA, the 35 new cases include; 34 cases from the greater Male’ region and one case from a residential island outside Male’.

Meanwhile, 24 additional coronavirus patients were confirmed to have made full recoveries over the last 24 hours, increasing total recoveries to 13,050.

With the new developments, Maldives now has 513 active cases.

There are 39 patients in hospitals.

303,585 samples (including repeated samples) have been tested for the new coronavirus to date.

With the 35 new infections this Saturday, 144 people have tested positive over the last one-week period.

December 26: 35 cases

December 25: 25 cases

December 24: 21 cases

December 23: 13 cases

December 22: 23 cases

December 21: 8 cases

December 20: 19 cases

Maldives identified its first coronavirus case on March 7, and declared a state of public health emergency over the pandemic less than a week later on March 12.

While coronavirus cases had initially been restricted to resorts and safaris, and later quarantine facilities holding inbound travelers, Male’ City identified its first coronavirus case on April 15, prompting a city-wide lockdown.

The populous capital quickly emerged as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Maldives, contributing to the majority of total cases.

8,581 people - making for 63 percent of the 13,618 coronavirus cases in the country are Maldivians, while the remaining 37 percent are foreign nationals.

48 coronavirus patients have died from complications.