Minister: Male’ lockdown will need to be extended

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, on Saturday, said that that lifting the lockdown on the greater Male’ region within the next few days was an impossibility given the trend of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, on Saturday, said that that lifting the lockdown on the greater Male’ region within the next few days was an impossibility given the trend of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

The populous Maldivian capital, Male’ City identified its first virus case on April 15, prompting a lockdown on the greater Male’ region, and a nationwide ban on all non-essential travel. The initial lockdown order was for 24 hours, but was subsequently increased to 14 days following the emergence of more virus cases. The 14-day lockdown order is set to expire on April 30.

In response to a question by Sun at the National Emergency Operations Center press briefing this afternoon, Ameen said that the lockdown had been effective in curbing the spread of the new coronavirus, but the situation hadn’t improved enough to warrant a lift on the lockdown any time soon.

“I don’t want to say anything regarding the future. But the current situation is such that it does not warrant lifting the lockdown. The current sitituation isn’t such that we can return to normal life,” said Ameen.

He said that he did not see the lockdown being lifted within the next four days or so, or the near furture.

“It will take time for the situation to change. We need to accept that we may need to bear with this hardship for a few more days,” said Ameen.

Ameen said that the lockdown was necessary to keep virus cases from increasing exponentially and pushing the health system well beyond its limits.

Any ease in movement restrictions will lead to the rapid spread of the coronavirus within the capital, he said.

Ameen said that compliance with the current measures in place would help curb the spread of the virus significantly.

Ameen said that the health authorities were now operating under the assumption that the virus had spread not just within the capital, but also to other residential islands. He said the current priority was to expand testing and identify and isolate virus cases as soon as quickly as possible.

Spurred by the surge in virus cases in the capital, total cases in Maldives have now risen to 137.