The Spokesperson at the President’s Office, Mohamed Mabrook Azeez, on Wednesday, announced additional eases to the restrictive measures currently in place to curb the spread of Covid-19. Briefing the local media virtually from the President’s Office, the Spokesperson stated that the decision to further scale back restrictive measures was made by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, after discussions with technical advisers, doctors and health professionals.
The new eases that were announced today include curtailing travel restrictions for those that have been fully vaccinated. From July 8, 2021 onwards, persons who have completed their vaccination dosages and the corresponding 14-day period post inoculation, would be allowed to travel between non-monitoring islands without quarantine. Furthermore, resort staff who had been fully vaccinated and completed the corresponding 14-day period, would be allowed to travel to their respective islands. To ensure safety of workers, resort management would also be required to submit 10 per cent of their staff every month for random sampling until further notice.
Spokesperson Mabrook revealed new provisions for fully vaccinated international travellers and tourists entering the Maldives via international ports of entry. International travellers would now be required to present a PCR test upon arrival, with a negative result, produced at most 96-hours before travelling. They would also be required to quarantine for seven days and take a release sample. Only travellers innoculated with vaccines on World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency Use List would be accepted, Mabrook elaborated.
From July 15, 2021 onwards, tourists from South Asia would be allowed entry to resorts, while guesthouses may resume accepting bookings from South Asian tourists towards the end of the month. The new eases also require resorts to facilitate testing services on the island, whether by making arrangements on their own, or by outsourcing the service to a third party. Mabrook stated that the Health Emergency Operations Centre’s (HEOC) aim is to have 95 per cent of all guesthouse workers fully vaccinated, as well as completely vaccinating 60 per cent of local population in islands with guesthouses.
Additional eases announced today include completely lifting the curfew in Malé. Mabrook also announced that sports and recreational activities may resume under Health Protection Agency (HPA) guidelines. Cinemas, restaurants and cafés, retail services as well as construction work could also resume services per agreed HPA guidelines, the Spokesperson added. He urged the public to be wary of risk management and adhere to the guidelines for personal safety as well as safety of the others.
During today’s press conference, Spokesperson Mabrook was joined by HPA’s Spokesperson Dr Nazla Rafeeq and HPA Senior Public Health Officer Fathimath Ana.