Male’, Maldives – The Health Protection Agency (HPA) annoucned that Maldivians arriving from abroad are no longer mandated to quarantine if they can present a negative PCR test that was done at least 96 hours prior to departure.
While the previous Covid-19 protective measures stated that all Maldivians coming from abroad must complete the mandatory quarantine period even if they have a negative PCR test, HPA has now changed the rules to allow all locals to avoid mandatory quarantining if they can present a negative PCR test.
HPA elaborated that from December 20 onwards, all Maldivians who arrive to Maldives from abroad and the people who arrive to Maldives under work visa must provide a negative PCR test that was done at least 96 hours prior to departure to avoid mandatory quarantining. However, HPA said that this does not apply to infants before the age of one.
HPA said that although the citizens arriving to Male’ from abroad are not required to quarantine for 10 days, it is advised for them to wear their masks and maintain social distancing even when inside the houses to ensure everyone’s safety.
In addition to this, HPA also changed another rule to allow locals and expatriates to visit resorts in the Maldives if they have a negative PCR test for Covid-19.
According to the new amendments, any individual going to a resort for a short period of time for work, or locals going for vacations will be granted entry to local resorts provided that the individuals produce a negative PCR test administered not prior to 72 hours.
Although the number of confirmed cases increased by a great extend, over the past months the number has been gradually decreasing as the peak appears to have tipped for the better. In addition to this, the number of recoveries in Maldives has also increased by a great extent.
The latest Covid-19 statistics of the country show that there were only 13 new cases recorded in the country, with a total of 13,392 cases of Covid-19 cases recorded in the country so far. 12,760 recoveries have also been recorded in the Maldives since the initial outbreak.
