"Thousands of island residents stranded in Malé, wish to return"

Authorities have revealed that there are thousands of island residents stranded in the Maldives capital Malé who wish to return home.

Joining the routinely press briefing to update the public on the current Covid-19 situation of the country, Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed revealed that a total of 5,000 individuals stranded in the capital, who have registered to return to their respective islands.

The minister revealed that work is currently underway to short list the individuals whose need to return home is greater. This is being done in cooperation with relevant stakeholders.

Highlighting that there are number of resort workers stranded in the capital region after coming for a brief visit prior to the lockdown, the minister noted that arrangements are being made to allocate 500 rooms from guesthouses to accommodate these resort workers.

With this and the 500 rooms allocated for island residents stranded in the capital, a total of 1,000 rooms have been allocated for quarantine.

In addition, the minister noted that 3,000 rooms have been allocated for frontline workers in the Greater Malé Region.

This comes at a time the government has halted the process of taking island residents into quarantine facilities established at islands. Until further notice, these individuals will be taken into transit quarantine facilities.

Those taken into transit quarantine will be required to complete the 14-day period and will only be allowed to return home after Covid-19 testing is carried out and their results come back negative.

Minister Waheed also noted that it is important to maintain the current measures in place, under these circumstances, as difficult days are ahead and the people need to be cautious of the upcoming days,