- CURRENT NEWS / Asia
- 4 April 2022
Revoking the two-year PCR test comes after 656 days since first invoked, commented the Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem.
The new rules eliminate the on-arrival PCR testing and make it easier to visit the island paradise, according to the Ministry of Tourism for the Maldives. Vaccinated travellers who remain on an inhabited island will no longer be required to show a PCR test upon departure.
All travellers arriving in the Maldives will still be required to complete a Traveller Health Declaration form within 48 hours of their arrival. Previously, travellers were required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 96 hours of their trip.
Those arriving had to show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of checking out of a guesthouse on any inhabited island too.
Travel-related quarantine is also no longer required, and the wearing of masks and keeping a social distance is no longer mandatory.
Wearing a mask is only mandatory under certain conditions, such as patients and visitors wearing a mask in all health facilities, regardless of outbreak status and masks being worn in public areas as per current guidelines for outbreak areas (where sample positivity is above 20 percent).
The relaxing of restrictions puts the Maldives in line with other countries around the world that have eased entry protocols or done away with them completely.
The Maldives and Indonesia, two of the most popular tourist destinations in the Indian Ocean, are among those removing pandemic-related requirements to make it easier for visitors to travel there.
Popular superyacht destination Bali, located east of the Maldives in Indonesia, also announced it was dropping its quarantine requirement for visitors from 23 countries, on 7 March.
International visitors must still be vaccinated and take a COVID-19 test before arrival, but no longer have to quarantine for three to five days after arriving. A week later the Maldives joined in dropping the test.
“The timing to ease the way for foreign-flagged yachts and superyachts to visit the Maldives is perfect as throughout 2022 the island nation will be celebrating 50 years of tourism since it first began attracting visitors”, says Asia Pacific Superyachts Maldives managing director, Mohamed Hameed.
“As well as the unique and beautiful attractions of The Maldives, the country is also a convenient and viable stop-over for yachts bound for either the Red Sea or en route via the Cape of Good Hope.”
