Quarantine facilities to be increased in preparation of repatriation of more Maldivians overseas

The Maldivian government, on Friday, announced it was working on increasing quarantine facilities in preparation of the repatriation of more Maldivian nationals who are stranded overseas due to movement restrictions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakuru had ordered for all inbound air passengers to Maldives, with the exception of tourists with resort bookings, to undergo 14-day quarantine at designated government facilities effective March 21. Maldives now has 12 quarantine facilities, which can accommodate 1,100 people.

In response to a question by Sun at the National Emergency Operations Center briefing on Friday night, National Disaster Management Authority CEO, Hisan Hassan said the government engaged in discussions with several resorts to increase quarantine facilities.

“We are engaged in discussions with resorts located near Male’ regarding converting those places to quarantine facilities… This includes Paradise Island Resort,” said Hisan.

Hisan said that while the Tourism Ministry was engaged in discussions with several resorts, no deal had been reached, as of yet.

The Maldivian government, in collaboration with the national airline Maldivian, had launched repatriation flight to evacuate Maldivian nationals stranded overseas last week. Some 500 people from Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia have been repatriated so far, and the airline is scheduled to hold more flights to evacuate more people.

Hisan disclosed details regarding the repatriation flights scheduled for this week. He said that 200 people will be repatriated from Trivendurm this Saturday, 150 people from Cochin and Bangalore on Monday, and 69 people from Nepal and Bangladesh on Thursday.

The figure is not exact, and is subject to change, he said.

Inbound air passengers in quarantine facilities are tested for COVID-19 before they are released from quarantine. 26 people were released on Friday, while samples have been taken from 59 more who now await their test results.

There are currently 662 people in quarantine facilities.