All vulnerable migrant workers in Male' to be quarantined

Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru, on Saturday, ordered for migrant workers in the Greater Male’ Region who are vulnerable to getting infected with COVID-19 to be quarantined in a facility designation by National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).

Maimoona noted that COVID-19 continued to spread at a rapid rate in the Male’ region, especially among migrant workers; making it necessary to impose additional measures to curb the spread of the disease.

The quarantine order applies to:

• Migrant workers who have no established place of employment or accommodation
• Migrant workers who live in addresses that are being monitored by Maldives Police Service
• Migrant workers among primary or secondary contacts of confirmed cases who are deemed to be vulnerable
• Migrant workers who do not fall within the aforementioned categories but are deemed to be vulnerable

Maldives has a population of some 200,000 migrant workers, many of whom are Bangladeshi nationals and live in congested labor quarters in Male’, making them particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

While COVID-19 cases in Maldives had previously been isolated to resort islands and safaris or travellers in quarantine, health authorities identified the first virus case in the populous Male’ City on April 15, and soon after established a community spread in the capital. Health authorities now believe virus cases in the capital had gone undetected for at least two to three weeks.

Since the emergence of COVID-19 in Male’ the number of people who have tested positive has risen to 249, the majority of who are migrant workers. They include 261 Bangladeshis, 51 Indians, three Pakistanis, two Nepalese, and two Sri Lankans.