HEOC: Enough capacity to deal with surge in Covid cases

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) states there’s enough capacity in Maldives’ hospitals, as the country faces a surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the Omicron variant. 

COVID-19 cases are increasing at a rapid pace in Maldives. Total cases have increased to 101,418, including 967 new cases on Friday alone. Active cases have increased to 5,881. 22 of the patients are hospitalized. 

Health Ministry’s Commissioner of Quality Assurance, Thasleema Usman told Sun on Saturday morning that authorities are continuously engaged in discussing the measures to take, as cases rise. 

“When implementing measures, we don’t just look at the positivity rate. We also look at our response rate,” she said. 

Thasleema said that the health system has enough capacity to deal with surge in COVID-19 cases, and that facilities in the greater Male’ region have the capacity to treat up to 100 patients at any given time. 

“We will increase capacity as necessary in the coming days,” she said. 

The last COVID-19 wave in Maldives, fueled by the Delta variant, had pushed the health system close to capacity. Dozens of COVID-19 patients died of complications. 

The rise in cases has led to implementation of new restrictions, especially in the greater Male’ region. Masks have been made mandatory in all inhabited islands including mandatory. New measures in Male’ include mandatory PCR testing for outbound domestic travelers, a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, and a ban on supporters from stadiums during sporting events.   

Health experts project cases of the Omicron to increase across Maldives in the coming days, and peak by the end of January or beginning of February.   

Health Protection Agency (HPA) has urged members of the general public to do their civic duty and wear masks and maintain social distancing when out in public. 

Schools in Maldives are set to reopen under reinforced measures on Sunday.