Coronavirus: Four Maldives resorts placed in lockdown
James ChappleFour island resorts in the Maldives have been placed in lockdown after the Maldivian government confirmed the nation’s first coronavirus cases.
Kuredu, Vilamendhoo, Batalaa and Kuramathi island resorts have been placed under temporary quarantine, the Foreign Office confirmed on Tuesday night (10 March).
A Kuoni spokesperson confirmed to TTG the fresh FCO advice impacted three islands featuring in the operator’s Maldives programme – Kuredu, Sandies Batalaa and Kuramathi.
“Transfers to and from the islands have been suspended,” said Kuoni. “All guests due to arrive over the coming days and weeks are being contacted and offered alternative resorts. We’re contacting imminent arrivals first.”
Kuoni said it had received assurances the authorities in the Maldives were taking steps to limit the spread of coronavirus according to pre-prepared plans guided by its ministry of tourism and health protection agency.
“Our reps in the Maldives have been in touch with customers on the islands and they are being kept fully up to date,” the Kuoni spokesperson added.
“Guests will remain in the resorts on a full-board basis whilst the resorts are quarantined. Our customer service team is here to help anyone with future bookings.
“We’ll be monitoring the situation closely and keeping all customers fully informed. All flights and holidays to other resorts we feature in the Maldives are currently operating as normal.”
The FCO said there had “confirmed cases” of Covid-19 in the Maldives, adding the four resorts had been placed under “temporary quarantine”. Anyone booked to travel to any of the four resorts is advised to contact their tour operator and insurance provider for more information.
Government measures to prevent the spread of the infection include a temporary ban on all cruise ships entering and docking in the Maldives.
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