Health Minister says COVID-19 outbreak ‘out of control’ in Male’, warns of stricter measures

Health Minister Ahmed Naseem said on Thursday that the COVID-19 outbreak in the capital Male’ City is “out of control”, and that the authorities will tighten measures in order to contain the situation.

Speaking during a workshop at the Parliament regarding drafting a new law to regulate tour operators and tour agencies, Naseem said that new cases of COVID-19 in Male’ had risen to 139 when he woke up this morning, and are expected to exceed 200 before the end of the day.

“What’s happening now is the [COVID-19 outbreak] is totally out of control in Male’. There were 139 cases when I woke up today. We expect it to surpass 200 today. Everyone is under the misconception that this is over. That its over once you get vaccinated. No. That’s not how this works,” he said.

“The extent of the spread of COVID-19 in Male’ is beyond measure at this point. We just don’t know at this point.”

Naseem said that everyone needs to work together to control the spread of COVID-19, and expressed concern that some are downplaying the seriousness of the disease. He said that those downplaying the seriousness of the disease include some religious scholars, who are issuing fatwas against maintaining social distancing and wearing masks, leading to some removing their masks when praying in mosques.

Naseem said that people need to listen to health experts.

“The danger in this is it takes one-and-a-half year to recover from a patch in the lungs. You are at risk at this point. This is no minor matter. Someone who contracted this disease should not dive. They will die. We need to work together to make people understand the risk in this,” he said.

Naseem said that getting vaccinated isn’t the end, and that such an exponential rise in the infection rate will render the vaccination program ineffective.

Naseem said that the situation in Male’ is critical, and calls for a lockdown – one that Maldives cannot afford. He said the situation reached to the level due to lack of adherence to existing health guidelines by restaurants and other establishments that serve the public.

“We cannot accord to go into a full lockdown. But Male’ is at that stage now. UK was also unable to contain the situation after they eased measures and had to enter a lockdown. We too are in the same situation. We will take additional precautions. We are working on it,” he said.

Naseem said the authorities will ensure the additional measures will not affect the tourism industry – the country’s main economic driver. He said that authorities are no longer concerned about infection rates in the tourism industry. He said that the infection rate in resorts is low and easily contained.

“The issue is Male’. The most congested city. This is the problem,” he said.