New Delhi (NVI): After a four-month shutdown, Maldives is reopening its borders for international visitors today with health and safety protocols in place, to protect tourists and residents from coronavirus.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih visited the international airport in Male to check on the operations last evening. He was briefed on the measures in place to screen passengers as well as on their testing capacity, and protocols to ensure social distancing.
In addition to this, the Government has prepared safety measures to be enforced at ports and guest facilities including mandatory testing for airport arrivals.
Notably, tourists, the US citizens included — will not have to enter into a mandatory quarantine upon arrival at Velana International Airport in the capital, Male.
Furthermore, the foreign tourists will not be required to pay an additional fee, produce a certificate or test result indicative of negative status for coronavirus prior to entry into the Maldives.
Maldives is heavily dependent on tourism for its economic activities which were suspended in the wake of novel coronavirus. The tropical island nation comprises about 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean.
So far, the South Asian nation has confirmed over 2,800 positive cases of coronavirus while 14 people have died due to the deadly contagion.
-RJV
