State of public heath emergency has been announced in the Maldives for the first time in its history.
The emergency state was invoked by Health Minister Abdulla Ameen by the discretionary powers vested in the minister by Section 33 of the 7/2012 Public Health Act after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the current COVID-19 outbreak as a global 'pandemic'. The state of emergency was declared for a period of 30 days from 12th March 2020.
Making the announcement at a press conference held Thursday, the Health Minister said the emergency state was declared after assessing the risk posed to the country as a result of the virus.
Eight people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Maldives thus far. Over 133,000 have been infected with the virus globally since late December last year.
