President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has today finalised the guidelines for government offices to operate, ahead of their reopening on Sunday.

Following the Independence Day and Eid holidays, the government had extended office closure by a week up till Today. The decision came after the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the Maldives.

As per the guidelines, government offices in islands with active COVID-19 cases must ensure work from home arrangements are made while the number of employees attending the workplace is to be kept at a minimum, and heads of institutions are to make arrangements so that work that can be conducted from home can be done so.

The guideline also suggested that employees should be grouped into teams with the teams being circulated on a weekly basis when attending office. Based on the service provided by the institution, as well as the resources and number of employees, the services of the institution are also to be distributed throughout the weekdays.

If the working hours are not split into sessions, government offices shall not be opened at 14:00 after the regular working hours have ended, unless for a legitimate reason. Any facilities or activities that may be carried out remotely must be carried out either electronically or online.

Employees will also be expected to conduct official work during office hours and to refrain from working during non-working hours in compliance with the guideline. When the office is to be kept open after working hours, the guideline notes that, in such situations, the office must not be kept open after 16:00.

Appropriate protection and precautionary steps against the spread of COVID-19 must be taken by all state agencies. Measures such as social distances, good grooming and any steps suggested by the HPA must be applied.

HPA also noted that the office environment has the highest number of contacts as of now.