Fuvahmulah council issues stay home order, partially closes ring road

Fuvahmulah city council, on Saturday, announced the imposition of restrictive measures including banning residents from leaving their homes except for access to essential services, and the closure of the city’s ring road in the evening.

The move comes with the Maldivian capital, Male’ City under lockdown, and restrictions in place on more residential islands where people have tested positive for COVID-19 or house people who have had contact with positive cases.

Fuvahmulah council issued an announcement this Saturday informing of the decision to prohibit residents from leaving their homes except for access to essential services. And residents who go out for access to essential services have been instructed to maintain social distancing measures at all times, and to avoid gatherings of more than three people at a time.

The council has also announced that the city’s ring road will be closed from 4 pm to midnight to discourage people from gathering on the road to take leisurely rides.

The council said it found the imposition of the measures to be absolutely necessary in order to ascertain the health and safety of the city’s residents.

The measures will be in place indefinitely, and violations will be met with fines, warned the council.

“The council acknowledges that residents will face hardships and inconveniences with the measures being imposed by the council in response to COVID-19. However, given that these measures are necessary at this time to ascertain the safety and security of residents, we ask that all residents cooperate,” said the council in its announcement.

491 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives. And the government, in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, has issued a nationwide ban on non-essential travel and a nationwide ban on mass prayers in mosques.