Govt. to begin moving vulnerable migrant workers out of Male’ tonight

Tourism Minister Ali Waheed has announced the government will begin moving migrant workers in the Greater Male’ Region who are particularly vulnerable to getting infected with COVID-19 to quarantine facilities outside of the capital on Saturday night.

It comes after the Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru, citing the continued rapid spread of COVID-19 in the Male’ region, especially within migrant communities, ordered for vulnerable migrant workers to be moved to a quarantine facility designated by National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).

Minister Ali Waheed has tweeted that the government would begin moving vulnerable migrant workers to quarantine facilities outside of Male’ tonight.

Sun has been informed the migrants who will be relocated tonight will be taken to a facility established in Gulhifalhu.

“And the policy on facilitating the travel of people stranded in Male’ due to the lockdown back to their islands is also being enforced,” he added.

The quarantine order issued by the Director General of Public Health this afternoon 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

Since the emergence of a community spread in Male’, the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maldives has risen to 514, the majority of who are migrant workers. They include 265 Bangladeshis, 52 Indians, three Pakistanis, three Nepalese, and two Sri Lankans.