MVR 98.56 million issued as allowances for frontline workers

MVR 98.56 million issued as allowances to frontline workers exposed to varying degrees of risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to statistics publicized by the Ministry of Finance, 10,843 frontline workers had been issued allowances by 24 January 2021.

Frontline allowances are distributed based on three categories of risk. Frontliners categorized as high-risk workers are those whose field of employment requires them to interact with persons or objects that may expose them to Covid-19. High-risk frontline workers are entitled to MVR 500 as frontline allowances for every day of work.

Medium-risk frontliners are those who are not required to come into direct contact with persons or objcts that may expose them to COvid-19, but who do come into contact with high-risk workers in their field of employment. Medium-risk frontline workers are issued MVR 250 as a daily frontline allowance.

Low-risk frontline workers are categorized as workers who participate in other Covid-19 operations despite not being exposed to Covid-19 directly, who commit at least six hours of work per day to pandemic response efforts. Low-risk frontline workers are entitled to MVR 200 as frontline allowances for every day of work where the six-hour work requirement has been met.

The Maldivian government began issuing allowances to frontline workers in May 2020, and has continued to do so as the nation continues to battle Covid-19.