The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has revealed that the government’s protocol to be followed in evacuating island residents stranded in the Greater Malé Region, has been amended.

This was revealed by the task force’s spokesperson, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz during a press conference on Saturday night, where he revealed that following the amendment, authorities have halted the process of taking individuals into quarantine facilities in islands.

Until a decision is reached, the authorities will be taking these individuals into transit quarantine facilities, revealed Mabrook.

As such, these island residents will be quarantined at resort facilities in accordance with space availability and will only be allowed to return to their islands after completing a 14-day quarantine period and testing negative for the Covid-19 virus.

Following the lockdown imposed across the Greater Malé Region on April 15 after the first community transmission was detected in the region, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) also banned travel between inhabited islands.

This was done in order to ensure the disease does not spread among the island communities. Due to these changes, several island residents stranded in the capital have been raising concern.