Male’, Maldives – As the guesthouses and hotels are given the permission to reopen in the greater Male’ area as of Sunday, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has released specific guidelines that needs to be followed by these guesthouses.
The statement revealed by HPA gives detailed information of the purposes for which a tourist can be accommodated in the guest houses and hotels in Greater Male’ area. These purposes include that a tourist can stay in a guesthouse for either transit stay or regular stay as well.
In addition to this, HPA said that the if a local cannot arrange a house to quarantine in, they can quarantine in the guesthouses. The same goes for expatriate work visa holders as well, but along with this, they can also use the guesthouses for regular stay.
However, before the guests are welcomed to the guesthouses and hotels, the Ministry of Tourism is required to ensure that the there is a designated place for isolation of confirmed cases of Covid-19 among tourists at these establishments and that it is approved by HPA.
Along with this, there must be a designated place for quarantine of close contacts among tourists and designated vehicles to transport Covid-19 cases and their contacts to the designated places for isolation and quarantine as well.
HPA also informs all the guesthouses that if they wish to reopen, they need to have a Covid-19 safe plan formulated and that it should be submitted to the Tourism Ministry before reopening.
Certain requirements in the safe plan include of:
- Infection prevention measures established in the tourist guest house or hotel according to the guideline given by HPA.
- Procedure for managing a symptomatic case identified at the guest house or hotel.
- Availability of basic PPE to attend to a symptomatic guest (medical masks, face shield, gloves, disposable aprons or washable gowns).
- Guests must wear masks when in public spaces in the guest house or hotel.
- Staff who develop fever or respiratory symptoms should not be allowed to attend work. They must test for Covid-19 and if negative, they must not join work until 48 hours after resolution of symptoms.
For further information, visit ‘guideline for reopening of tourist guesthouses and hotels on greater Male’ area’ given by HPA.
