Health Protection Agency (HPA) has urged the public to limit large gatherings of people during the ongoing school holidays, in order to control the spread of COVID-19.
HPA noted a large number of people are travelling across the country due to the start of school holidays. HPA urged the public to exercise caution when travelling by adhering to personal safety measures such as wearing face masks and social distancing. The agency also called on the public to limit the number of parties and gatherings and to adhere to safety measures when conducting such events. The agency also advised high-risk individuals not to attend such gatherings.
Further, HPA called on the public to test for COVID-19 immediately if showing any symptoms. HPA also urged symptomatic individuals to self-isolate until their test results are confirmed. The agency called on individuals who test positive for COVID-19 and contacts of positive cases to follow the quarantine rules in order to control the spread of the disease.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the Maldives, although all five confirmed cases of Omicron in the Maldives are imported cases. HPA said further samples have been sent for gene sequencing to confirm if there is a local transmission of the Omicron variant in the Maldives.