Addu City, Maldives – After the first foreign tourist visited the Addu Guesthouse “Wavesound by 3S”, Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC), mandated wearing face masks in public. Despite this, people donning masks in a rare sight, in the city of 33,000 people.
However, the public has been noted to be very consistent in following the mask rule when attending Addu Equatorial Hospital (AEH), as the hospital does not allow any individual inside, without masks, and a mandatory temperature check, along with names and ID card numbers being noted.
However, while the masks come off right outside the hospital for many, implementing institutions of regulations and guidelines set forth by health care agencies have also been noted to be turning a blind eye to the mandatory mask regulation.
On Friday, Addu City Council posted pictures of a team from Gaafu Dhaalu Council, which visited Addu and visited multiple beaches across the city. In many of the pictures, neither the team from Gaafu Dhaalu Council, nor those from Addu City and the City Council were seen wearing masks, or maintaining social distancing.
The images sparked speculation on social media whether the team from Gdh. Atoll was unaware of the recent HEOC announcement or if the Addu City Council failed to inform them on the matter.
The Maldivian government is attempting to restart tourism across the country, in an attempt to restore the country’s currently fragile, tourism dependent economy, which makes it crucial for the everyone, especially the government and other implementing bodies of government regulations to be compliant with the policies set forth to achieve the common goal.
However, with an increasing number of people not following mandatory quarantine after travel and health care professionals warn that by not adhering to professional advise, we maybe pushing our luck.
