COVID-19: Cases shoot up coinciding with vaccine drive, 215 new infections

As the Maldives today began administering vaccines against COVID-19, health authorities in the nation have announced 215 new cases of COVID-19, increasing confirmed cases in the Maldives to 16,056.

The Maldives now has 1,807 active cases. There are 184 patients in hospitals.

According to HPA, the new cases are:

• 159 cases from Greater Male’ region.
• Eight cases from residential islands apart from Male’
• 20 cases from operational resorts
• 27 from non-operational resorts
• One case from a liveaboard 

Meanwhile, 51 COVID-19 patients were confirmed to have made full recoveries over the last 24 hours, increasing total recoveries to 14,190.

The positive cases were detected from 4,126 samples. 413,766 samples (including repeated samples) have been tested for the COVID-19 to date.

Caseload over the week

• February 1: 215 cases
• January 31: 105 cases
• January 30: 122 cases
• January 29: 118 cases
• January 28: 106 cases
• January 27: 143 cases
• January 26: 145 cases

52 patients have died from complications.

The increase in cases has led to authorities clamping down on easements as the Maldives begins its vaccination drive. The vaccine drive was officially commenced with a health worker receiving the first dose of the Covishield vaccine earlier today.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as well as senior cabinet members also received vaccines today. President Solih speaking today to commence the vaccine drive said that the supply of vaccine would continue uninterrupted and that it would take around six months to inoculate the population.