Covid-19: Maldives bans travel from South Asia after 15-fold surge in virus cases

Male - The country registered 1,500 cases on Tuesday, compared with less than 100 cases one month ago

Rich Indians can no longer escape their country’s raging pandemic by holidaying in the Maldives, after the island paradise said on Wednesday it would ban travel from South Asia as it battles a surge in Covid-19 infections.

The Indian Ocean holiday destination reopened its tourist resorts in July last year after halting international flights for more than three months at the start of the pandemic.

But the atoll nation of 340,000 people has been grappling with a jump in cases, including a record single-day rise of 1,500 on Tuesday — compared with less than 100 cases just one month ago.

Countries in South Asia, including its largest neighbour India, have been hit by a massive and deadly new wave of infections.

“The government of Maldives has decided to temporarily suspend the issuance of tourist visas for travellers originating from South Asian countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka,” the tourism ministry said.

The indefinite travel ban would also apply to travellers who spend more than 24 hours transiting in the listed countries, or who had visited them in the previous 14 days, the ministry added.