MALE, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Maldivian government is formulating plans to deal with an expected peak in COVID-19 infections by the end of the month as the country's case count recently crossed 900, state media reported here Wednesday.

Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen told the state-owned Public Service Media that the government has consulted experts in formulating a plan to deal with a peak in virus transmission that is expected to take place by May 31, with over 1,000 cases expected on the day.

Ameen said that a focal point of the plan is to ensure that elderly citizens are safeguarded by being kept indoors.

He added that the government was working to arrange testing facilities in all islands while increasing the capacity of quarantine and isolation facilities.

Spokesperson of the National Emergency Operating Centre (NEOC) Mohamed Mabrook Azeez told local media that officials were working to expand the country's testing capacity to 1,000 per day. He added that random testing would be increased by collecting more samples from 28 regional flu clinics.

Azeez said the the government was trying to import automated testing machines in order to reduce the amount of manual labor involved in processing samples, which would speed up the entire process.

The Maldives has 904 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 with three reported deaths and 29 recoveries, according to data from the Ministry of Health. Enditem

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