Govt urges calm; public panic unwarranted

Authorities have stated that there is no reason to panic as the Maldives confirmed its first two cases of the Covid-19 virus last night.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih spoke to the public last night and called on the citizens to remain calm.

“This is the time for the public to follow the instructions of the authorities and refrain from panicking. The priority is to take preventive measures from the disease for the safety of the public.” said the President.

Maldives National Defense Force stated that an adequate supply of Hazmat suits was in stock and more were being sourced. Hazmat suits are used by health professionals to treat the infected in other countries and MNDF stated that it will be involved in transporting suspected cases of the virus.

In a news conference held by Police, MNDF and STO, Vice Chief of Defense Force, Brigadier-General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef stated that Hazmat suits would be used in the transportation operations.

“Our responsibility, for the time being, is as we have stated before, to transport people. Especially via the sea ambulance. The crew and drivers of the sea ambulance utilize Hazmat suits in the operations right now.” said Big. General Abdul Latheef.

Adequate supply of food and medication!

State Trading Organization’s Managing Director Hussain Amru also stated that the country had enough stockpiles of food and called on the public to refrain from any unnecessary stocking.

“We (STO) have enough food stocks for Maldivians. If we consume at a normal level, just as today and tomorrow and throughout history, food stocks will be available,” said Amru.

He added that it was not advisable for one or two people to stock up on food supply at a time where there was a risk of the disease and called for unity among the public in such times.

“This is not the time to create a storage unit out of the living room of every household. This is not the time to make every room of the house into a corner shop,” said Amru.

Amru stated that medication was also available in the country but admitted that there was nothing that can be done if the countries from where the supply is imported, run out. He added that the foreign ministry was working to establish a supply of medicine from India that will not run out.

Sale of sanitizers to the public has also been temporarily halted, not because STO did not have an abundance of supply but because institutions such as hospitals needed it more, according to Amru. He also said that there was a possibility that if the sale of sanitizers were fully opened, the supply might run out after excessive purchases by some. The sale of face masks has also been controlled by the authorities and Amru noted that it was more important for those infected than those who were not.

Refrain from spreading false information

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ismail Naveen also cautioned against misinforming the public in such situations.

“Our role is to supervise the locations inspected by the Health authorities. We also request not to spread false information regarding the situation.” said the Assistant Commissioner.

At an earlier press conference held last night, Government Ministers also stated that this was not a situation for the public to panic about. With the disease spreading across the globe, it was highly likely that infected cases would be spotted in the country, and the ministers called for the cooperation of the public at this time to deal with the situation.

Covid-19 status in the Maldives

Currently, only two cases of the disease have been identified in the country. Two resorts in the country are in lockdown after suspected cases. Authorities stated that 33 tests were conducted on suspected cases, out of which 31 came back as negative.

Kuredu Island Resort and Sandies Bathala Resort are in lockdown. The two positive cases were identified in Kuredu, and Tourism Minister Ali Waheed stated that the two were foreign employees of the resort. 

Health Protection Agency (HPA) also announced that symptoms of the disease were identified from an Italian tourist in the Sandies Bathala Resort. Tests are now being conducted on the tourist who is now in isolation.