Kaafu Atoll, Maldives — One of the most successful islands in operating guesthouses in Maldives, K. Maafushi has welcomed over 2,200 tourists since Maldives reopened its borders on July 15.
While the guesthouses were initially closed on March 17 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Health Protection Agency gave the permission for all guesthouses in the atolls (except Male’) to open on October 15.
Since the guesthouses of Maafushi opened on October 15, the Health Center of Maafushi informed that the island has been visited by over 2,200 tourists. Out of these, the Health Center mentioned that since border reopening, 15 tourists confirmed positive for the Covid-19 virus in Maafushi, however, there are currently only four active cases remaining in the island.
The Health Center also informed that the island does not have a community spread anymore and that it is safe for tourists to travel to the island.
While guesthouses in Male’ were given permission to reopen on December 15, there are currently over 349 tourist facilities operational and serving guests in the remaining atolls of Maldives.
Although the island nation does not require tourist to go through quarantine or testing on arrival, all the tourists are required to complete an online health declaration form given by the country and to also provide a negative PCR test result along with it. The PCR test must be taken at least 96 hours prior to departure.
The International borders of Maldives were reopened on July 15 as an attempt recover from the economic losses the country has faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While Maldives welcomed over 27,400 tourists in December so far, the country has recorded over 103,500 tourists arrivals since the border reopening.
The number of confirmed cases has decreasing by a great extent in Maldives as the peak appears to have tipped for the better. The country has been recording two digit cases instead of three digits for over the past months.
In addition to this, the number of recoveries in Maldives has also increased by a great extent. In fact, the recovery rate has increased rapidly from less than 60% to 95% over the past months.
Maldives currently has a total of 13,418 confirmed Covid-19 cases, however, out of these, there are only 535 active cases present in the country. While 12,828 people have completely recovered from the virus in Maldives, 48 people have passed away from Covid-19.
