Health Protection Agency (HPA) has reduced the quarantine period for individuals positive for COVID-19 to seven days.
Recent changes made by the HPA to its guidelines state individuals positive for COVID-19 are required to undergo quarantine for seven days from the day the sample was taken. Individuals in quarantine who show signs of illness will be required to obtain a negative result from a sample, taken after the seven days, before being released. Individuals released from quarantine are required to obtain a negative result from an antigen test before going to work at a health centre, education centre, school, or care facility.
Furthermore, those who have come into contact with a vaccinated individual who was found positive for COVID-19 need to undergo a 10-day quarantine from the date of contact and will be released from quarantine without taking a test, if they show no sign of illness after the quarantine period. However, the contacts will be able to leave quarantine early if they obtain a negative PCR test result after five days of quarantine.
Those who came into contact with an unvaccinated individual who was found positive for COVID-19 need to undergo a 14-day quarantine from the date of contact and will be released from quarantine after obtaining a negative PCR test result. Any quarantined individual who shows signs of illness will need to take tests, and a group of positive individuals and their contacts will be released after everyone in the group obtain negative test results.
Previously, individuals positive for COVID-19 had to be in quarantine for 14 days. HPA began strengthening health measures following the rise in COVID-19 cases across the Maldives.