The statistics of the Ministry of Health during the weekly press review illustrate the reason for the restitution of the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth on Thursday 11th November. Everything is on rise, be it positive cases, number of deaths but one positive point is the slow but steady progress of the vaccination campaign.
Deaths on the rise
Of the 46 deaths recorded, 37 were over 60 years and 9 aged less than 60 years. Among the victims, only 1 was duly vaccinated, 9 had received a dose of vaccination and 36 were not at all vaccinated while 42 of them had several comorbidities. “The majority of the deceased patients were not vaccinated, over 60 years of age and had multiple co-morbidities,” said Dr Kailesh Jagutpal.
Case statistics and admissions
In the week since the last NCC, 897 new PCR cases have been registered, of which 16 are imported cases. As for the population under treatment, the Minister announced “392 covid positive admissions in the 5 regional hospitals and at the ENT Hospital, there are 45 patients admitted, of which 30 are on oxygen, 6 are in intensive care and on life support. Of these 6, only 1 is fully vaccinated“. As for those in quarantine, there are 71 of them, most of whom are on their way to other countries where a pre-departure quarantine is required.
Vaccination: slowly but surely
Vaccination is progressing slowly but surely, according to the Minister of Health. “69.8% of the population is fully vaccinated. For the third / booster dose, 26,544 doses have been administered. In Rodrigues, 59.9% of the population is fully vaccinated and 58.8% has received a first dose. For the adolescent campaign for Pfizer, 20,673 are fully vaccinated and 30,948 have received a first dose.” The Minister seized the opportunity to announce that as of 10th November, the country has received 180,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson and by 18th November, we will receive another shipment of 151,200 doses. And on Monday 16th November, the country is expecting a shipment of 107640 doses of Pfizer.
Free access to supermarkets
Dr Dinasingh and Dr Sokappadu spoke about the virulence of Delta Variant, the importance of immunisation and the need to respect barriers and restrictions. In addition, in response to a question from the press, the Minister reassured the population that “there is no need for a health pass to access supermarkets. It is forbidden to ask for it just as it is not yet imposed in public transport. These are measures that will come gradually,” he concluded.
