Male: Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on Thursday, extended the partial reopening of government institutions from June 21 to 30.

During this period, government offices will be open from 0900hrs to 1300hrs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Despite the partial reopening, general members of the public are not to be allowed inside any government building.

According to the President's Office, government institutions will only operate within the specified hours to complete essential tasks.

If any duties need to be performed outside of the given working hours, the relevant head of the institution must authorise it and inform the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of the details of the work and the employees attending the tasks.

President's Office states that "HPA's advice should be sought prior to requiring employees to physically attend the workplace".

During partial quarantine, employees who can work from home are urged to continue working from home and institutions are encouraged to provide online services if possible.

Government offices have been partially reopened for essential work since May 31, after a shutdown period since March 19 in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Since then, the president has extended the order with minor changes, such as increasing the number of working days from three to four on June 11.

Maldives is currently in the second phase of easing lockdown measures in an attempt to kickstart the economy and establish the 'new normal' on living through the pandemic.

Currently, the country records a total of 2,120 confirmed cases, out of which 433 are active cases of COVID-19. The country records 1,677 recoveries and eight fatalities so far.

As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives' capital Malé recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15.

However, the number of recoveries have continued to rise, and over 79 percent of patients have now fully recovered.

WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 8.4 million people and claimed over 452,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 4.4 million people have recovered.

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