The national airline, Maldivian, has evacuated 100 Maldivian nationals stranded in Sri Lanka amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first repatriation flight arrived in Maldives from Colombo, Sri Lanka around 2145 hours, Sunday. Although, initially Maldivian planned to operate two flights to Colombo, the airline has operated only one flight, with each passenger paying USD 300 for the air ticket.
The protocols followed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) states all passengers except tourists arriving in Maldives must stay in a quarantine facility for a period of 14-days. In this regard, the Maldivian nationals who arrived from Colombo were also taken to a quarantine facility upon their arrival.
HPA will test all individuals in the quarantine facilities for COVID-19 before they are released after the 14-day period.