The Minister of Tourism, Ali Waheed, and the Minister of Health, Abdulla Ameen, has held a Joint Press Conference today to announce that following deliberation on the rapidly escalating state of the global Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emergency, the Maldives will adopt additional border control measures as a supplementary safeguard.
Under the new measures being implemented, the Maldives will restrict the entry of all persons, regardless of nationality, who have China as their port of embarkation or have transited through Mainland China. These new measures will be effective from 0000hrs on 3rd February 2020, with the only exclusion being Maldivian citizens. Minister Waheed further stressed that these additional border control measures are being taken as a matter of precaution to public health and safety, and are temporary in nature.
The Government had previously taken border control measures by temporarily suspending all incoming direct flights to the Maldives from China and also released a travel advisory for all Maldivians warning against all non-essential travel to China and all other countries where the virus has been detected.
Speaking at a Joint Press Conference earlier today Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid, updated the public on the status of seven Maldivian citizens who have been relocated from Wuhan, China, to Delhi, where they will be quarantined to ensure that they do not display any symptoms or signs of infection prior to returning home.
The Ministers also emphasised that the Government is taking all precautionary measures recommended through international guidelines under the direction of the President. This includes the procurement of further screening equipment such as additional thermal cameras, establishing Quarantine Facilities in different islands and provision of assistance to Maldivians living abroad.