The Maldives government on Wednesday announced changes in its health guidelines, including reducing the quarantine period to 10 days and making the masks mandatory, in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country, Sun news reported. 

The country’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) announced changes in its existing guidelines. The quarantine period, currently 14 days, will now be just 10 days; however, for COVID-19 positive people, the duration will still remain 14 days. The quarantine norm will not be applicable to foreign tourists visiting the Maldives. 

All the changes announced today will come into effect from Friday, 4 November, said HPA. 

In another important change, the government made the use of masks mandatory in all residential islands, and the islands having international airports. Until now, the use of masks was only mandatory in Greater Male region- an area which has become an epicenter of the outbreak in the country.

Also, the government has allowed workers to travel from one island to others for essential services and for projects if they carry a negative COVID-19 report conducted within 72 hours. 
These workers no longer need to be quarantined.