The Maldivian government on Monday, tightened reactions on people stranded and seeking to leave the capital, amid the lockdown imposed over the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
Speaking at a virtual press conference held at the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC), Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed disclosed that approximately 5,000 people, having arrived in Male' from other islands for various needs, requested permission to leave the city.
Elaborating on the issue, Minister of Home Affairs Sheikh Imran Abdulla noted that the initial plan was for a requestor's respective island council to facilitate travel arrangements.
Following the surge in numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the capital area, Imran declared that authorities have tightened conditions on issuing authorisation to leave Male' amid the lockdown:
- Individuals must have arrived in Male' on April 1 or prior, at least two weeks before lockdown commenced, and their reason for leaving must be for a necessary need or pressing concern.
- Priority will be given for individuals, and their caretakers, who arrived in Male' for medical purposes.
- Priority will also be given for resort workers that arrived in Male' after completing the 14-day mandatory quarantine at their establishments, and became stranded when lockdown commenced.
- Individuals that arrived in Male' for short stays prior to lockdown, for business or other needs, will also be considered.
Imran stated that authorities will thoroughly evaluate these backgrounds of people that request permission to leave Male'.
He further assured that the government will issue authorisation justly and fairly.
Amid the ongoing state of public health emergency declared on March 12, the administration first imposed the lockdown across the Greater Male' Region on April 15, after a Maldivian national living in the capital tested positive for COVID-19. The lockdown has since been extended multiple times, with the latest development placing its deadline on this coming Thursday, May 14.
Following the lockdown, a number of locals, from various regions across the archipelago, found themselves stranded in the capital area. Authorities have since begun issuing authorisation for those with pressing needs to leave Male' and return to their home islands.
Maldives presently records 862 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 829 are active. The country has experienced 3 deaths and 30 recoveries.
Capital city Malé, one of the most densely populated places in the world, has recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 since it recorded its first local transmission of the virus on April 15.
On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 4.2 million people and claimed over 284,100 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 1.5 million people have recovered.
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