Male: The government has repatriated 159 Maldivians, who were stranded in India for medical purposes.

The national carrier Maldivian brought back the locals who were stuck in India’s Cochin and Bangalore cities. All these people were those who were seeking medical treatment under the government’s medical insurance scheme.

As per the protocols that are being practiced in the Maldives following the detection of the first local infected with the virus, all 159 people who returned to the country have to complete mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated facilities.

The national airline has been repatriating locals stuck overseas including 405 people stranded in India, 83 people in Nepal, 100 in Sri Lanka and 197 in Malaysia.

According to the airline, it will arrange repatriation flights after receiving the green signal from the countries. The biggest obstacle to repatriate stranded Maldivians at the moment is due to several countries having shuttered airports indefinitely as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.