Maldives, the Indian Ocean nation grappling with a fresh surge in coronavirus cases, will impose additional curbs on movement this week to slow the pace of infections.
More restrictions will be introduced from Wednesday, including lengthening the curfew period, according to Mohamed Mabrook Azeez, spokesman for the President’s Office. At the moment, the curfew runs from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
"The initial restrictions have had an impact on the curve,” he said Monday. "We feel that more measures are needed to further slow down the number of positive cases.”
The Maldives confirmed 1,559 new cases on Sunday with 1,135 in the Greater Male area, which includes the capital. Total active cases were 23,464 in the country of about 391,000 people. Number of deaths reached 134 on Monday morning, according to data by the Health Protection Agency.
In the tourism-dependent economy, 97% of resort employees have received a first vaccine dose and 56% are fully inoculated. Of all tourism arrivals, less than 0.2% were positive, Azeez said.
