An employee of Hondaafushi Island Resort has been arrested for violating restrictive travel measures implemented to combat the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Maldives.

Authorities reveal that a resort worker was taken under police custody under a court order on March 25th after travelling to Hondaafushi Island Resort from Hanimaadhoo island of Haa Alif Atoll, despite the ban on all travel between resorts and inhabited islands declared under the Maldives' state of health emergency.

The worker had entered the island without permission from resort management, said police, adding that he had taken his belongings and returned back to Hanimaadhoo.

Arrested is a 22-year-old Maldivian man and the case is undergoing further investigation.

While travel between resorts and inhabited islands is prohibited, resort workers have expressed concern over not knowing this period will end.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Wednesday announced that resort employees will be able to leave the islands 14 days after the last guest leaves.