Govt. to test all employees of Kuredu Island Resort for Covid-19

The government of Maldives has announced that it plans on testing all the employees of Kuredu Island Resort for Covid-19.

The resort was where the first case of the virus in the Maldives was identified from. The government had given some leeway in the departures of resort and safari employees who have been confined in their work environments amid the situation with the virus.

The employees of Kuredu have been confined to the resort for almost 28 days now after the first case of the virus was identified.

Government spokesperson Mabrouq Azeez had stated that the Technical Advisory Group of the National Emergency Operations Center would decide on how to proceed with the situation in Kuredu today.

“The decision by the TAG team is to release everyone on Kuredu after testing for the virus, as a precautionary safety measure,” said Mabrouq.

He noted that Kuredu was the only island where an imported case had transformed into a local one and the government’s approach for the island would be different from other resorts.

In the guidelines issued by HPA, resort or safari employees can depart by submitting an exit form after completing a 28-day period after a positive case of the virus was identified from the resort or safari and had been transmitted to another on the resort or safari. The exit form is to be submitted if a suspected case had not been identified from the location within a 14-day period. A positive case of the virus should not be identified from the resort or safari in order to exit during this period.

The guidelines also stated that the management of the resort can submit a form to the HPA         for employees to depart if no suspected symptoms of the virus were identified from an employee after 14-days since the departure of the last tourist from the resort.

The guidelines further read that even if a safari or a resort was placed under monitoring mechanisms, forms can be submitted if a case of suspected symptoms was not identified from the resort or safari after 14-days.

Exit forms can also be submitted if there were no suspected cases when employees depart, and a 14-day period had passed since a suspected case of the virus, which is applicable to a resort or safari where 14-days had passed since a positive case was identified.