The government, on Saturday, announced the decision to ban all arrivals from Spain as well as certain regions of France and Germany for a 14-day period.
According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), any passengers with a 14-day travel history, including transits, from any of the regions and countries mentioned below will be prohibited from entering Maldives from 0000 hrs (Sunday).
- All regions of Spain
- Germany: Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg
- France: Île-de-France and Grand Est
The government previously banned travel from China, Italy, Bangladesh, Iran and South Korea in relation to COVID-19. The spread of the virus was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Additionally the government has issued a travel advisory urging all Maldivians to refrain from non-essential travel.
On Saturday, HPA implemented a number of severe measures to combat the virus under the recently announced state of Public Health Emergency.
This includes a 14-day restriction on tourists checking into hotels and guest houses located in Greater Male' as well as prohibiting movement between resorts and inhabited islands for the same period.
Despite any inconveniences resulting from the measure, Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed called on all individuals in the country to support the travel between resorts and inhabited islands.
He added that any individual found violating the restrictive measure would be strictly penalized by the government.
Furthermore, HPA ordered the closure of all parks and public recreational areas in the Greater Male' region and a two week closure of all universities, colleges and training facilities across Maldives.
HPA's announcements come in the wake of the tenth confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country.
Globally, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 145,000 and claimed over 5,400 lives around the world. Out of those infected, more than 71,000 have recovered.
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