Amid the surge in COVID-19 infections in Greater Male region, health authorities reimposed restrictions on gatherings, parties among other activities, Raajje TV reported.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA)- the country’s leading authority to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic-  announced a curfew for the Greater Male' Area, effective from midnight Tuesday between 12 am and 4 a m, until further notice.

In order to further prevent the transmission of the virus, the agency also announced a ban on gatherings, parties in the capital city. On Tuesday, the country reported 93 cases of fresh infections, mostly from the Greater Male region.

In recent weeks, the country has reported over 100 cases daily. Earlier for months, the daily figures remained below 100. So far the archipelago reported a total of 15247 cases while the active case count remained 1273. The actives case count, which remained below 1000, for months, saw a sharp increase in recent weeks.

This comes as the country is to conduct the local council elections in few weeks. The HPA has also drafted health guidelines that have to be followed by political parties while campaigning.  A report in Sun said the HPA planned to put a 10 days home quarantine rule for people going on campaigns across the islands.