The government has extended the State of Public Health Emergency until next month as the country prepares to open its borders for the first time in four months.
Speaking to reporters, Health Emergency Operations Center HEOC spokesperson Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq said that the state of Public Health Emergency has been extended till the 7th of August.
She added that with this extension, the restrictions currently implemented in the Greater Male’ Area would remain in place.
This is the fifth time the government has extended the State of Public Health Emergency since it was first declared back in March after the World Health Organization deemed the COVID-19 virus as a global pandemic.
It was declared by the powers vested to the Health Minister under Section 33 of the Public Health Protection Act.
Although the government had initiated Phase III of the lockdown ease earlier this month, the threat of a massive spread of COVID-19 still remains high.
This was further compounded after authorities reported an increasing number of new cases in the last couple of days with more and more locals tested positive for the highly contagious illness.
