Male: The Maldives' National Emergency Operation Centre's Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has urged the public not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

A strict lockdown was imposed on the Greater Male' Area in April after the first local case of COVID-19 was identified in the capital. While the lockdown measures were partially relaxed on June 15, the public is now allowed to go outside between 5 am and 10 pm. The new eases have somewhat reverted the routines of Male' residents back to its pre-COVID-19 normalcy.

A video publicized by the TAG team on Saturday noted that a large number of people were out and about in the streets of Male', and implored the public to stay home unless it is absoloutely necessary to leave the house. While small crowds are also being witnessed on the streets, such acts could speed up the rate of tranmission within the community, warned the team in the video. If such a case arises, the country will have to be placed on lockdown once again, the video warned.

The Maldives has recorded 2,187 positive cases of COVID-19 to date. The number of active cases is 389, while 8 COVID-19 related fatalities have been recorded.

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