The South Korean government on Saturday, donated 150 test kits to the Maldives' ongoing COVID-19 response.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 150 test kits can be used to conduct testing on 15,000 COVID-19 samples.

Noting that the assistance "signifies Korea's goodwill towards the people of Maldives", the government asserted its belief that the donation will go a long way in complementing the efforts to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

"The government of Maldives has expressed its immense gratitude to the Government of Korea, President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, for this crucial assistance granted to the people of Maldives in this hour of need", the statement read.

The state also noted that Maldives looks forward to strengthening the ties between the two nations in the years to come.

Maldives and South Korea have continued to enjoy close cooperation since the countries established bilateral relations on November 30, 1967.

In addition to South Korea, Maldives has received foreign aid for its COVID-19 response from various other countries, including United States of America (USA), China, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Japan, India and Bangladesh.

Maldives presently has a total of 2,913 confirmed and 543 active cases of COVID-19. Thus far, the country records 2,340 recoveries and 15 deaths.

After recording low numbers for several weeks, virus cases recently spiked after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions across the Greater Male' Region.

Government offices and businesses including shops, cafe's and restaurants restarted services on July 1 while authorities reopened Maldives' borders for tourism on July 15.

On March 12, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 14.2 million people and claimed over 600,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 8.4 million people have recovered.

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