Tourism Minister Dr. Abduallah Mausoom says in order for guest houses and hotels in the Male’ Area to reopen for business the number of COVID-19 cases reported daily in the area must drop significantly.

In a tweet, Dr. Mausoom said that tourist facilities in the capital city remained closed due to COVID-19 and that these include guest houses, hotels, and souvenir shops in the capital.

He noted that these businesses continue to sustain losses in the pandemic that has rocked the country’s economy to its core.

The Tourism Minister said that the tourist facilities in the Male’ Area can only reopen once the daily COVID-19 reported in the area drop significantly. He implored all to work with the Health Protection Agency and other relative authorities in order to deter the spread of the infection in the Greater Male’ Area.

His comments came as the daily COVID-19 cases reported in the country once again started to increase.

Health Protection Agency HPA reported yesterday that 94 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the country on Friday and that this includes 49 news cases of the pandemic from the Greater Male’. HPA had said that there 997 active cases of COVID-19 in the country and that 320 are currently under isolation.

HPA reported that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has also spiked in recent days with 80 now admitted at hospitals.

A total of 12,546 cases of COVID-19 has been reported in the country with 11,497 now recovered.

The pandemic has claimed 45 deaths here in the Maldives.