The decline in the Covid 19 positivity rate has been maintained for some weeks. The fatality rate also remains very low. At the last count on Friday 29th April, there were 3 deaths for the past week. The Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth has even expressed his wish for a return to normal life.
Drop and PM’s announcement
The number of positive cases is below the 20 mark. Today’s figure is 17 cases, with 1 admission in 1 of the regional hospitals and 2 discharges, including 1 from New ENT Hospital. Of the 37,714 positive cases since March 2021, 36,009 patients have been cured. On the vaccination side, the progress reported is at 1,008,062 for the first dose, 974,487 for the second dose and 627,326 for the first Booster Dose.
Optimism resurfaces with the statement of the Prime Minister during the celebration of Eid in Plaine Verte on Tuesday 03rd May. “In the future, we can remove the restrictions that are still in place, which will allow a return to pre-Covid-19 life. But this will require everyone’s cooperation,” he said. Coming from the head of government, we can expect a major relaxation of the restrictive measures, which are in force on the island.
Beijing closes its metro stations
On the other hand, the situation in the world is not so reassuring. In Beijing, dozens of metro stations have been closed on Wednesday to better fight against the Covid-19 while restricting travel. There are only a few dozen cases a day in this capital of 21 million people. Its zero Covid strategy has unfortunately failed after 2 years, namely since spring 2020. In recent weeks, Beijing has seen its worst outbreak of cases.
South Africa affected by two Omicron sub-variants
These two Omicron sub-variants are BA.4 and BA.5, whose virulence are yet to be determined, but they are responsible for a new outbreak of cases in this part of Africa, according to the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) in late April. “It is too early to know whether these new sub-variants may cause more severe forms of the disease than the other Omicron sub-variants, but early data suggests that the vaccine continues to offer good protection against severe forms of Covid and reduce the risk of death,” said the World Health Organization Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news conference. Currently, less than 45% of the adult population is fully vaccinated. The legal restrictions related to the pandemic were lifted in early April.
