The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has revealed that over 1,500 individuals currently occupy the transit quarantine facilities established by the government.

This was revealed by the Covid-19 spokesperson, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz during Friday night’s routinely press briefing to update the public regarding the current Covid-19 situation in the Maldives.

As such, Mabrook revealed that 413 island residents stranded in the Greater Malé Region due to the lockdown, were moved into transit quarantine facilities on Friday.

With this, the total number of individuals occupying these facilities has risen to 1,558.

Mabrook earlier revealed that the government’s protocol to be followed in evacuating island residents from the capital has been amended following which authorities halted the transfer of these individuals to quarantine facilities in islands.

There are atleast 5,000 island residents who wish to return home and they 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.

This is being done in order to ensure the disease does not spread among the island communities.

The government of Maldives is currently using seven island resorts as transit quarantine facilities for those who got stranded in the region, they are Sun Aqua Iruveli in Dhaalu atoll, Hondaafushi Island Resort in Haa Dhaal atoll, Medhufushi island resort in Meemu atoll, Canareef Herathera Island Resort in southernmost Addu, Fushifaru Maldives in Lhaviyani atoll, Furaveri Island Resort and Spa in Raa atoll and Filitheyo Island Resort in Faafu atoll.

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.