The government has extended the State of Public Health Emergency for an additional month as the country experiences a surge of COVID-19 cases with 89 reported yesterday.
This is the 6th time the government has extended the State of Public Health Emergency in the country which was initially declared back in March due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
In a declaration signed by Health Minister Abdullah Ameen, the government extended the State of Public Health Emergency period till 6th September.
The extension was ordered by the powers vested to Minister Ameen under Section 33 of the Public Health Protection Act.
The declaration said that the state of public health emergency was extended to further quell the spread of the virus and safeguard the health of the general public.
It also said that the Director-General of Public Health had also advised the Minister to extend the public health emergency period given the current situation of the pandemic in the Maldives.
Minister Ameen initially declared a state of public health emergency in the country on the 12th of March for 30 days.
The extension comes as the country experiences a massive surge of new cases of COVID-19 in the last two weeks. Health Protection Agency HPA has reported over 600 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 5 days. Active cases have been confirmed in 12 islands and 7 resorts in the country with the total number of COVID-19 cases now standing at 4769.
