Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC)'s Spokesperson and Health Protection Agency (HPA)'s Medical Officer Dr Nazla Rafeeq, on Thursday night, asserted that permits to travel to islands without self-quarantine cannot be granted until the number of unlinked COVID-19 cases found in Male' area decreases.
Addressing the public's concerns about quarantine measures at HEOC's media briefing, Dr Nazla stated that 22 percent of the new infections consist of unlinked cases, without any known positive contacts.
She stressed that authorities did not wish to burden the public with their policies, but stated that there were many points to consider in lifting preventive measures set in place to control the spread of virus.
"198 people were found positive when they were tested at the end of their quarantine period after traveling to their islands. If we released people without a quarantine period, all of those cases will spread across atolls", she stated.
The public's complaints about the quarantine policy increased after the authorities announced that tourists can spend their vacation at local guesthouses without undergoing the 14-day quarantine period.
However, Dr Nazla asserted that tourists and locals are different.
"Locals will spend time with family, visit friends, public places, shops, schools, barber shops, service providers and other places. Locals will meet people", Dr Nazla said.
According to her, this was the same reason that locals residing in islands where guesthouses operate in were prohibited from traveling to other islands without self-quarantining.
However, she assured that the quarantine policy will be lightened after assessing the numbers of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 in the upcoming days.
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