Are we heading towards the 6th wave? The question is persistent among the population. Covid cases are multiplying and fluctuating on a daily basis, as are admissions. At the last sequencing, on positive samples taken from 13 to 19 January, the Central Health Lab had announced 5 local cases of the Delta variant and 10 of the Omicron. Worldwide, a tougher sub-variant of Omicron is looming.
Figures according to Rapid and PCR tests
According to Ministry of Health figures, based on PCR tests conducted, the country has 180 positive cases and 29 admissions as of Monday 07, 126 positive cases and 41 admissions as of Tuesday 08, 188 positive cases and 51 admissions as of Wednesday 09 and 54 positive cases and 53 admissions as of Thursday 10. Hence a total of 548 positive cases since the beginning of the week and 174 admissions. But the Flu Clinics have counted more than 4,700 positive cases since Monday via their Rapid Antigen Tests, showing that most cases are asymptomatic. Those who are advised to observe self-isolation are provided with a box of Molnupiravir and promised follow-up by the Domiciliary Monitoring Unit (DMU).
Face-to-face resumption
With face-to-face recovery, the spread is even more fluid. Figures are not being released and the Ministry of Education, in a fairly accurate observation from one angle, disclaims any responsibility and makes it clear that since children or staff were already infected before returning to school, the spread has not been in the schools. It is true that special sanitary measures and Testing Teams are present, but it is impossible to contain the spread, knowing that social distancing is only partially applied, buses and schoolchildren’s transports are exempt from this important barrier gesture.
Rodrigues – 471 new cases
In Rodrigues, the latest count shows a total of 4,598 cases, or 471 new cases as of Thursday 10 February. The tenth district is mourning two victims, but the OPR candidate and former commissioner Franchette Gaspard Pierre Louis, maintains that these deaths cannot be directly attributed to Covid 19. Opposing political parties dispute her claim and are even calling for a move from a semi-lockdown to a general lockdown to better contain the unmanageable spread.
Vaccination on the rise
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health is basing its entire strategy for protecting the population on the respect of barrier measures and vaccination, which is admittedly progressing. To date, 985,955 people have received the first dose, 938,234 people the second and 391,143 the third/booster dose. In Rodrigues, as of the latest Ministry of Health released on 4 February, 72.6% of the population had received the first dose, 66.8% the second and 8,692 the third/booster dose. As for students, of the 32,303 adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, more than 16,000 received the first dose of Pfizer and more than 7,000 the second dose. For students over 18, of the 8815, 7740 have received at least one dose.
Vaccination is certainly a protection and certainly not a guarantee of non-contamination. Does this new pandemic situation in Mauritius justify the persistent question of the population which is: Are we heading towards the 6th wave? or are we already in it?
