The Maldives is seeing a spurt in COVID cases, with another death being reported on Thursday, taking the total death toll to 64.

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), a 78-year-old Maldivian, who was receiving treatment at the main government hospital, Dharumavantha Hospital, died on Thursday evening.

Over 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the Maldives.

To combat COVID-19, the Maldives had declared the State of Public Health Emergency. As many as 12 times the emergency has been declared in the island nation, since it was first announced on March 12, 2020, according to avas.mv.

Though the recent extension of the emergency state expired on March 4, the Health Ministry announced that the public health emergency state will be maintained until April 4 as COVID-19 still remains a threat to the Maldives.