State bans excursions to reduce COVID-19 risks

Director-General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakr on Sunday issued a ban on the departure and arrival of any persons from islands, resorts, safaris and gueshouses for excursion purposes henceforth until further notice.

This order was issued in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of the general public. Quoting the above, the Director-General requested authorities to obey and enforce the ban.

Since the government announced a state of public health emergency on March 12, authorities have instructed the public to follow certain guidelines as a precaution to curb the spread of the virus within the country.

Maldives Police Service, so far, has arrested five individuals for violating the instructions given by the authorities.

These attempted breakouts come in the wake of Health Protection Agency (HPA)’s announcement on March 15, grounding all movements between resorts, liveaboards or safaris carrying guests and inhabited islands for a 14-day period.

Maldives, as with most countries, has also moved to quarantine areas with suspected cases, and isolate suspected and confirmed cases alike. The country has closed operations of all guesthouses and restricted incoming travel originating from seriously affected countries. However, despite public pressure to do so, the country is yet to issue a lockdown blocking all incoming travel from other countries.

As such, resort employees continue to face the highest risk of exposure to the virus.

Maldives currently has 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 10 active cases. The country recorded its first two recoveries on Friday, and the third this Saturday.

No Maldivians have tested positive for the virus as of yet. So far, only tourists and resort employees have confirmed infections with no local transmissions.

The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 339,009 and claimed over 14,689 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 99,011 have recovered.