Coronavirus: Mauritian borders to remain closed until 31 August

15 Juin 2020

Port-Louis, Mauritius, June 15 (Infosplusgabon) – Mauritius has prohibited the entry of aircraft and ships to the island until 31 August 2020, except for those as may be approved by the Prime Minister.

This is to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the island, according to official sources.

The quarantine period would also be in force in Mauritius as until 31 August 2020.

In the meantime, a technical committee has been set up to look into the modalities and protocols for the re-opening of the island’s airspace.

The Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said over the weekend that since there has been no local positive case of COVID-19 since 26 April (47 days), all economic, commercial and social activities would resume normally as from Monday, except for horse racing which would be held in camera as from 20 June.

“The situation with regard to horse racing would be re-assessed in due course,” he said.

Infosplusgabon witnessed on Monday morning that all public beaches, public parks, cinemas, village halls, community centres and similar public buildings, gym/sports complexes, including group sports activities (football or volleyball), fairs (auction markets, market fairs and haberdashery), casinos (also gaming houses), discotheques, recreational/amusement parks as well nature parks have reopened to the public.

“The holding of marriages, religious and social gatherings would also be allowed. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities would be allowed access to public transport without any restriction as from 15 June 2020,” Mr. Jugnauth said.

The wearing of face masks in public and workplace as well as in public transport is still mandatory, he said, adding that temperature check would be effected where required.

In the education sector, Mr. Jugnauth indicated that pre-primary schools would resume on 22 June while primary and secondary schools, as well as tertiary institutions would resume from 1 July.

Regarding stranded Mauritians in foreign countries, a total of 1,836 people have already been repatriated and another 800 will come home by the end of this month, the Prime Minister said.

According to him, 1,164 stranded citizens will be repatriated in July depending on whether they clear the Covid-19 test prior to boarding the flight.

With regard to the virus' case count, as at date, there are two imported active cases being treated in a hospital.

The Prime Minister said they are in good health.

Other statistics provided by the Ministry of Health and Wellness indicated that about 10% of the population (a total of 142,889 tests, comprising 32,257 PCR tests and 110,632 Rapid Tests), have already been carried out.

In another development, five countries and international organisations have, so far, made donations to Mauritius in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

In a communiqué issued in Port-Louis, the government named these countries as  Canada, China, India, Japan and United States of America.

The international organisations include European Union (EU), Agence Française de Développement/Indian Ocean Commission (AFD/IOC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA), African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Jack Ma Foundation.

The medical equipment and supplies donated include test kits, reagents, masks, thermometers, swabs, footwear covers, surgical gloves, goggles, personal protective equipment (PPE), extractors, and ventilators, it said.

The medicines include mainly tablets of hydroxychloroquine and ayurveda products from India.

The government further said that donations in cash have also been made to the COVID-19 Solidarity Fund.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/GBJ/GABON2020

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