State of Health Emergency extended till end of February

A further extension of the State of Public Health Emergency declared in the Maldives in light of the COVID-19 pandemic has been announced today.

A declaration signed by Health Minister Ahmed Naseem which was publicized today read that it has been decided that the State of Public Health Emergency will be extended until February 28.

The declaration further detailed that the extension was a precautionary measure taken under the advice of Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Director-General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru, as the risk of a large scale community spread is still imminent.

Maldives declared its first-ever State of Public Health Emergency on March 12, 2020, for a period of 30 days. The period has been extended every month which followed.

Maldives is currently battling a surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the new and more contagious omicron variant. Health experts expect the cases to peak by the end of January or beginning of February. 

Within the last 24 hours, HPA announced 2,813 additional cases of COVID-19, increasing confirmed cases in Maldives to 125,590.     

Meanwhile, 2,805 additional COVID-19 patients were confirmed to have made full recoveries over the last 24 hours, increasing total recoveries to 108,632.    

With the new developments, Maldives now has 16,673 active cases.      

There are 57 patients in hospitals.      

Maldives has recorded 273 COVID-19 deaths.