The Maldives government on Saturday revealed over 2300 people who were quarantined as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 have been released from the facilities thus far.
Speaking at the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC)'s press briefing on Saturday night, NEOC's Spokesperson Mohamed Mabrook Azeez said quarantined individuals are released daily upon completion of their 14-day quarantine period. The individuals are released only if they test negative for COVID-19 at the end of their quarantine period.
Mabrook said 130 people were released from quarantine facilities on Saturday, and a total of 2370 people have been released to date. Samples of 14 individuals who completed quarantine have been collected, and the results are pending, he added. If their samples come back negative, they will be released on Sunday, said Mabrook.
The government's current protocol is to quarantine all travelers who arrive in the country from abroad and those who are direct contacts of positive cases. Therefore, several locations have been designated as quarantine facilities, including several resorts.
The government spends MVR 750 daily on each person under quarantine. The amount will cover their meals and other expenses. The resorts were released to the government for quarantine purposes on the condition that the resorts receive some tax relief for the period of release.
719 people are currently at isolation facilities and an additional 1,521 people are at quarantine facilities. The total number of positive cases recorded in the Maldives is 785.
