A joint survey by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Maldives National University (MNU) has shown that one in every ten Maldivians have lost their employment due to COVID-19.

HPA and the MNU began a series of online surveys in May to observe the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. While the first phase collected data from 2871 people, the survey was completed by 2697.

The research showed that 29 percent of the participants had lost their jobs; which is one in ten. And every one person in ten are at risk of losing their job next month according to the participants.

It also supports that COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the businesses. While five in every ten businesses that took part in the survey was affected, four in ten businesses does not have an income either.

While 44 percent of people have not worked at all following the health emergency lock down, 37 percent worked from home according to the survey. And eight percent of people had worked two or three times a week while 11 percent people worked as usual.