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No passengers arriving from China aboard cruise ships: MAYA

Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA) has revealed that no passengers arriving from China are aboard any of the cruise liners arriving in the Maldives.

MAYA said while a large cruise liner carrying 2500 passengers is scheduled to arrive in the Maldives and disembark in Male' city on February 7, all cruise liners arriving in the Maldives through MAYA have strengthened its health protocols.

"None of these cruise liners have any passengers from China or other countries with a high number of confirmed cases. No passengers who transited to any such country are aboard these vessels," an official from MAYA said.

Following a deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, the Maldivian government has barred all arrivals from China from entering the country. The government has also indefinitely suspended all inbound direct flights from China as a precautionary measure. While 20,626 people have been infected with the virus world wide, the global death toll due to the virus has reached 426.