The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revised guidelines such that children below 18 years of age can travel without quarantine.
The government earlier on Wednesday announced eases to travel restrictions such that fully vaccinated individuals are permitted to travel without being subjected to quarantine. However, as children below 18 years of age cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the eases were not applied to children. While individuals who complete vaccine doses and those who recover from COVID-19 are allowed to travel within a certain period, the public was unhappy with the decision to subject traveling children to quarantine.
HPA later on Wednesday announced that the guidelines had been revised such that children can now travel without quarantine. A directive signed and issued by the Director-General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakuru said children who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine can travel with a negative PCR test without the need to quarantine from July 8 onward.
The directive further said those for whom 14 days have passed since they completed both doses of the vaccine can travel from Male', resorts, and guest house islands to other islands with a PCR negative result that is less than 72 hours old. They will still require a permit issued through HPA's Haalubelun Portal. However, they cannot travel to islands and resorts under HPA's monitoring status.
