Two people have been confirmed as carriers of the Omicron variant. This was announced by Minister Kailesh Jagutpal at the National Communications Committee session on Friday 10 December. He also announced that Delta is the current dominant variant. Death rate for the week stands at 95
2 cases with S Gene Drop Out
The first case was on the flight from South Africa on 27 November. The case was tested to S Gene failure. The sequencing detected Omicron. The person is asymptomatic and the contact tracing has not yielded anything so far. Namely, on the same flight, another positive case was detected, the sequencing showed that it was a Delta variant case.
The second particular case is a resident of Tamarin. It is believed that she might have been infected by her partner, a South African, who arrived in Mauritius on 18 November. “On 30 November, Welkin Hospital notified us that a patient had S Gene failure. She was in contact with her spouse who had returned from South Africa,” revealed Dr Kailesh Jagutpal. The partner has tested positive at PCR and is currently under quarantine. His sample is still being tested and the results are expected this weekend. As for the Tamarin inhabitant, she was tested at Welkin Hospital and her results showed an S Gene Drop Out. The sample was sent for sequencing, which revealed that it is the Omicron Variant.
It seems, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal reassured that “both cases were tested for PCR on Thursday 09 December, and were negative for Covid 19. They were allowed to leave the quarantine. At no time did they show severe symptoms of the disease. Contact tracing has been done for both cases”.
Drop in death toll
It is the number of deaths recorded for the week of 3 to 10 December. The Minister showed relief to this decrease of 24 lesser deaths. 30 patients were under 60 years of age and 65 patients over 60 years of age. 47 were unvaccinated and 86 had co-morbidities. Mauritius has recorded 669 deaths since 05 March 2021.
658 positive cases in one week
A total number 658 cases of contamination were recorded this week. This represents a decrease compared to previous weeks. The Minister of Health made the announcement this Friday in a press conference. He explained that another 25 cases have been imported. The health status of these 25 passengers is stable. Kailesh Jagutpal also reported that 22 patients are admitted to ENT hospital. 6 of them are on life support and 16 on oxygen. 307 patients have been admitted to the various regional hospitals.
