Malé, Maldives – Health Protection Agency (HPA) has made it compulsory for all travelers arriving in Maldives from May 3, 2021 to have a negative PCR test result no longer than 96 hours old with them.
In the announcement made by Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Abubakr, it stated that even those who have completed two doses of Covid-19 vaccine are required to have a negative PCR test result which was done no longer than 96 hours prior to their arrival. However, children under the age of one are exempted.
The decision by HPA comes while Covid-19 cases in the Maldives have been at an all time high during the past two weeks with number of daily cases being above 250 on average.
Health Protection Agency (HPA) had previously placed special measures for the people traveling from India to Maldives due to the sudden rapid number of Covid-19 cases in India as well.
HPA announced that from April 27, 2021 onwards, all individuals traveling from India to Maldives or travelers in transit for over 24 hours in India will have to present a negative PCR test result that was done 96 hours prior to departure to enter the Maldives even if they have fully administered the Covid-19 vaccine.
In addition to this, Indian tourists and other tourists who had transited in India for over 24 hours would not be allowed to stay at local guest houses or city hotels from April 27 onward until further announcements. However, those who already have made bookings will not be restricted within this rule.
Along with this, all the Maldivians citizens and Work Visa holders traveling from India to the Maldives are required to do a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival and also undergo mandatory quarantine for ten days in their place of residency or work even if they are vaccinated. HPA stated that these people can also be released from quarantine after they present a negative PCR test result at the end of quarantine period. This does not include of children below the age of one.
In the statistics released by HPA, it was detailed that out of the 465 cases, 193 were from the Malé area, while 242 cases were recorded from inhabited islands. The figures also included the 25 new found cases from operational resorts, 05 cases from live aboard which brought up the total active cases in the country to 4,978.
With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the country has reached 29,835 out of which 24,775 patients have made full recoveries, as of 18:00 of April 30, 2021.
