Mayor of Male’ City, Shifa Mohamed has advised the public to stay indoors and go out for essential needs only.

In a tweet sent out this morning after it was confirmed that a person in Male’ City has tested positive for COVID-19, Mayor Shifa said that the city cannot afford the shops and markets to be crowded as the health safety is uncertain. And so, the mayor advised the public to stay indoors.

She said that the lesson of social distancing has not been learnt yet.

So far, 21 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Maldives with six of them being locals.

Four of the five people Maldivians previously tested positive for COVID-19 all returned to the country from the UK. The fifth person returned from the Philippines.

However, there have been no confirmation that the person confirmed for the illness today had traveled abroad.