Top health official hails positive outcomes of public compliance against COVID-19

The Director-General of Public Health Maimoonaa Aboobakuru has said that the benefits of the public cooperating and adhering to the instructions of the authorities were now slowly materializing.

She was speaking in a televised interview of PSM when she hailed the success of the cooperation by citizens from the country and stated that the majority of the country was very accepting of the instructions, even if they have to suffer difficult consequences. The consequences were recognized by the people who cooperate with the authorities. 

“For the citizens of Male’ being forced to remain at home is a very dire situation. Even if difficult, they have done so, and the benefits (of that) are clearly visible in our continued work.” Noted the Director-General.

She thanked the cooperation received from the citizens and stated that the situation would be much worse if not.

The Director-General noted that many members of the public had requested to declare a public health emergency before it was done so on March 12. Decisions would be made based on situation and risk, she said before adding that the citizens now have to come to terms with the new normal. 

She requested the public to once again adhere to the instructions of the public in order to do this. 

“We and all the teams are working to control the virus and provide the necessary medical services before it becomes life-threatening. For that, we are preparing our capacity and taking steps forward after analyzing it. For now, I would say the capacity is received accordingly and is ready.” Said the Director-General.

She also focused on the challenges and pointed out that the dispersed geography of the Maldives was one such aspect. However, the Director-General reiterated that the government was fully prepared for the situation to be faced.

The Maldives first confirmed a case of the virus on March 7 and a community case on April 15.

The country passed the 1000 case mark for the virus today. The majority of the cases have been identified in the capital. Most of the cases in the capital had originated among the large migrant worker community.

Cases were also identified in the islands of Hinmafushi in K. Atoll and Manadhoo in N. Atoll today. Nine had tested positive from Manadhoo after contact with an elderly virus patient.

Three individuals have also tested positive today from the Rehabilitation Center in Hinmafushi. Both islands are in a state of lockdown following the confirmed cases. 

The country is expected to observe a surge in the number of cases by the end of this month. Experts have now reduced the initial projections due to the effectiveness of lockdown measures, and are now expecting a smaller surge.

Projections made for the country currently show that it could see 77,000 cases in total. The number of deaths could be as high as 900. So far the country has recorded just four deaths from the virus with recoveries numbered at 49.