Health Protection Agency (HPA) has mandated quarantine for students of local schools, colleges and universities returning from abroad.
HPA stated starting from January 4, all individuals returning from abroad who are students of Maldivian schools, colleges or universities are required to undergo home quarantine for 10 days. HPA said such individuals will be released from quarantine upon a negative result from the PCR test conducted at the end of the 10-day quarantine period.
HPA had recently revised its regulations to shorten the quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days. HPA had also decided to allow individuals returning from abroad to skip quarantine if they present a negative PCR test conducted within 96 hours before arrival.
However, individuals returning from the UK are required to undergo quarantine for 10 days even if they present a negative PCR test on arrival. This rule was enforced as a safety measure against the spread of a new COVID-19 variant detected in the UK that accelerates the spread of the virus.
While HPA has enforced quarantine for all students returning from abroad, Ministry of Education is currently preparing to reopen schools for the second term of the current academic year on January 10. However, the ministry said schools will be permitted to reopen based on the COVID-19 situation of the respective island or region.