A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced new preventative measures in government offices and agencies to curb the recent rise in Covid-19 cases across the country. The President’s Office disclosed the decision in a directive issued yesterday. As per the directive, government offices and agencies—on islands which the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has declared to have […]
When COVID-19 pandemic had reached the Maldives, it is safe to say, as a collective nation, we were not adequately prepared for it. We had not accounted for enough ventilators and trained health care professionals who had experience dealing with this new virus. The novel coronavirus swept up a storm in the tiny nation when […]
The World Health Organization country office for the Maldives (WHO), with financial support worth EUR 1 million from the European Union (EU), will help improve emergency response capacities in the Maldives to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The support will focus on improving the management of COVID-19 cases. This will be done through the provision […]
Health Protection Agency has imposed a 10-day home quarantine requirement for Maldivians and work visa holders arriving from the U.K. starting 27th December due to the spread of a more-contagious coronavirus strain in the region. According to the announcement by Health Protection Agency, this home quarantine will apply to Maldivians and work visa holders, regardless […]
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has established a set of guidelines on action to be taken against those who violate the Director-General of Public Health’s orders during the ongoing public health emergency. Under the new guidelines publicized on Monday, first-time offenders among the public will face an MVR 1000 fine while MVR 3500 fine will […]
The latest statistics show that total COVID-19 related state expenditure has reached MVR 2.72 billion. Of this, MVR 1.3 billion has been spent on health and social efforts. According to the weekly COVID-19 spending report by the Ministry of Finance, a total of MVR 1,342.6 million was spent on health and social efforts by 10th […]
The local quarantine period has been shortened from 14 days to 10 days by the Government of Maldives. Discussions regarding the matter took place last night at the weekly meeting held with the health industry committee. The meeting which takes place every Monday was attended by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Minister of Tourism, Abdulla Mausoom […]
Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) has announced that preparations are ongoing for vaccination against COVID-19. In the press conference held last night, HEOC spokesperson Dr Nazla Rafeeq said that a national steering committee has been formed for the preparations. She said that four effective vaccines against the virus have been observed and it is expected […]
K. Maafushi has been placed under monitoring by the Health Protection Agency of Maldives (HPA). The island was placed under monitoring at 03:43 in the afternoon today after a tourist tested positive for COVID-19 on the mandatory PCR test prior departure. According to HPA, Maafushi will be monitored till contact tracing is completed by the […]