Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Saturday, announced that all inbound passengers, with exception to tourists checking into resorts, will be placed under observation at a designated facility.
The restrictions were issued by Maimoona Aboobakuru, the Director General of Public Health, and is in effect beginning March 21, 0400hrs.
All passengers will undergo a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days.
The island nation announced a state of public health emergency on March 12, under which the government has implemented several measures. This includes travel restrictions to and from resorts, and temporary suspension of tourist check-ins in guesthouses and hotels around the country.
Despite significant public pressure to do so, the country is yet to issue a lockdown blocking all incoming travel from other countries.
As such, resort employees currently 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 308,200 and claimed over 13,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 95,800 have recovered.
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