The government has announced special circumstances in which tourists may be exempt from undergoing the mandatory quarantine period when traveling within Maldives.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Monday publicized a revised version of the Public Health Interventions to prevent Covid-19 transmission in the tourism sector, which lists exemptions for tourists who give a history of recovery from Covid-19 within the past three months.

As such, tourists who provide proof of having recovered from the infection within the past three months, counting from the date of diagnosis, will be exempt from PCR testing and undergoing 14 days in quarantine if they become a contact of a positive case but remains asymptomatic, if they have a history of contact with a positive case or suspected case within 14 days to their arrival but remains asymptomatic as well as mandatory isolation if they test positive but are asymptomatic at departure testing.

Tourists will be required to submit proof of recovery through a documentation from a national health authority which supports the claim, a discharge summary or document from a health facility proving that the person was treated for the virus as well as positive PCR, antibody and antigen tests from a laboratory which includes passenger’s name, passport/identification number, address and name of the laboratory, type of test and the dates of sampling and result.

The revised standard operating procedure (SOP) highlights that the possibility of re-infection cannot be excluded in a person who develops symptoms compatible with Covid-19, despite a history within the past three months.

Should tourists who provide their history of recovery from Covid-19 within the past three months, they must undergo PCR testing if they develop symptoms once again and if the results come back positive, public health authorities will reach a decision regarding isolation and treatment.

Further, the SOP notes that tourists are not allowed to make split bookings between safaris and resorts or guesthouses, as such, their entire stay must be spent at safaris if the booking was made at a safari. During their stay, tourists will not be allowed to enter resorts or residential islands.