Found myself worrying today about Maldives and their response to Covid-19. Having lived out there while my dad worked on Malé (the capital islands) it has such unique characteristics that puts it at HUGE risk. (Wee thread unpacking some stuff)

Already under masive threat from climate change / rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean (Maldives has a max height of 2.4 metres above sea level) the population of the Maldives is at desperate risk on nearly every socio/political/geographical level.

So let’s just look at Malé itself. Around 63,000 people live on this flat, dense island of 3.58 square miles. This makes it one of the most densely populated cities in the world, despite the country having one of Asia’s smallest populations (around 540,00)

In Malé they basically ran out of room and so started building up. The streets are narrow and many large and inter generational families share the same small and open flats. There isn’t really any ‘supermarkets’ in the western sense. Other than the large fish / veg market..

.. most grocery shops are small and packed high with narrow aisles with their door leading onto narrow moped filled streets. Social distancing in terms of getting your shopping? Nigh on impossible.

Adding to this - where does the produce come from? Maldives pretty much imports all of its produce from countries like Sri Lanka & India. Its geography means there’s little ability to grow and therefore this is a necessity. You physically can’t stop the trade boats.

Malé has one public hospital. It doesn’t just serve Malés population but takes those from other islands where they possibly don’t have a full time doctor or primary facility. Namely, rural populations rely on being taken to Malé by boat or seaplane if they fall seriously ill.

As of 2000, The Maldives has a capacity of 470 hospital beds. AKA, 1 bed per 577 inhabitants. Add into this the logistics of access to medical equipment / PPE / Specialist gear and mobility of patients around islands and you can see the implications of the impending pandemic.

So what has the response been? Well - officially:

However politically things are extremely rocky in the small island nation. There was effectively a military coup while my dad was living out there where the British Navy where on standby to remove expats. All may not be as it seems with these numbers.

You can read more about the political situation here: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/maldives

Fundamentally - we can get caught up in our own difficulties during this crises, but it’s worth sparing a thought to those in corners of the world where western minds rarely glance except when they are booking their luxury desert island honeymoon.

I’m so grateful to have the privelege of being born into the UK, and il hold the Maldivians in my thoughts and heart (alongside other countries who will be facing insurmountable challenges during Covid-19).