Health Protection Agency (HPA) has mandated quarantine for all locals and foreign workers arriving in the Maldives from the UK.
HPA announced new measures are being taken to safeguard the country from the spread of COVID-19 through a variant of the coronavirus which has been accelerating the spread of the disease in the UK. HPA stated all locals returning from the UK and individuals arriving from the UK on a work visa are required to undergo home quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. This also includes individuals who have visited the UK within the last 14 days before arrival in the Maldives, or individuals who have transited in the UK for over 12 hours.
Those undergoing quarantine after arriving in the UK are required to test for COVID-19 halfway through quarantine and at the end of quarantine. They must also bring a negative PCR test conducted within 96 hours before arrival.
Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) has stated no new strain of COVID-19 has been detected in the Maldives yet. Speaking at a press conference on December 24, Spokesperson of HEOC Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq said no new strain of COVID-19 has been detected in the Maldives yet. She said the COVID-19 strain currently present in the Maldives is consistent with the strain first detected in the country.
Acknowledging reports from the UK that a new strain of COVID-19 is accelerating the spread of the disease, Dr. Nazla said a new strain is more easily detected in a country like the UK, where gene sequencing is carried out frequently. Therefore, she said it is likely that alternate strains are present in several other countries, although undetected. She also noted the new strain found in the UK is accelerating the spread of the disease, rather than causing new complications or increasing the severity of symptoms.
Dr. Nazla further stated the Maldives is currently preparing a risk assessment for the potential detection of a COVID-19 variant. She said the authorities are currently discussing the measures which can be taken to contain the spread of the disease in such a situation.