He could not have been more specific. DPM, Steven Obeegadoo presented himself with curves, graphs, pie charts, WHO figures and percentages and their analysis to support the case for the full reopening of borders scheduled for 1st October. The reasons that the DPM announced that the goal of full immunisation has reached 81% of the adult population, 91% of asymptomatic cases, full recovery of all sectors and the future of 100, 000 families in the coastal areas in pain. Rodrigues will also reopen on 1st November in accordance with the protocols.
Reopening is hope
The National Communication Committee (NCC) focused on the reopening. The Minister of Tourism supported every detail with irrefutable points: “The goal announced by the Prime Minister has already been surpassed, 62% of Mauritians are fully vaccinated, i.e. 81% of the adult population who are eligible for the vaccine,” he said. The youth vaccination campaign will start as soon as Pfizer is received and will help to increase this percentage of the general population. He also spoke of the need to bring a balance between health and the economy. “The lives of some 100,000 coastal families depend on the tourism sector,” he said, recalling that the reopening of the country will not only benefit employees in the tourism sector but for all the sectors that hold the country together, “the reopening is hope… I appeal to patriotism, we can only succeed as a united people. Successful reopening will benefit everyone and economic growth,” said Steven Obeegadoo.
From 15 to 60 weekly flights
“With the re-opening, the number of flights per week will increase from 15 to 60,” the DPM announced. The government firmly believes in the success of the reopening, despite the free bad publicity by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which it criticises. “This report covers more than 50 countries. We are at a level close to the reference countries in the fight against Covid-19 and vaccination such as Israel, France, England, Switzerland, Spain among others,” he said. According to the graphs, out of 100,000 inhabitants, Mauritius has only 1,082 positive cases and only 4 deaths, which is very low compared to neighbouring countries such as Reunion, Seychelles and South Africa and much better than reference countries such as France, England, Canada and the United States. The percentage of deaths dropped from 3.03% in April to 0.34% in September. With the vaccination and the 91% rate of asymptomatic cases, the VPM estimates that “out of 100 positive patients, only eight will require mild treatment and 0.2% may be in a very serious condition“. In addition, he attributes to the progress not only to the successful vaccination campaign but also to the medical management of the patients. He does not delude himself about the risk but makes it clear that the reopening was done with calculated risks, including the massive vaccination campaign.
Unchanged protocols
He was keen to point out that the protocols remain unchanged: From 1st October 2021, unvaccinated travellers will have to present a negative PCR test before boarding the plane and will be quarantined for 14 days on arrival in Mauritius. Apart from the PCR test prior to boarding, a PCR test will be carried out on arrival, one on day 7, and one on day 14. For fully vaccinated passengers, the PCR test must be less than two weeks old before boarding and they will have to do two more on our territory, one on arrival and one on the 5th day before they are allowed to explore the island. He states that the risk is less “from 15 July to 14 September 2021, some 9,367 passengers came to Mauritius, of whom only 45 patients tested positive for COVID-19“. In case of deterioration of the health of a positive passenger in quarantine, the Minister recalled that his insurance will intervene as well as the government. He affirmed that there will be no worries about admission to a hospital or to the ENT Hospital in the treatment of Covid, according to the Preparedness Plan of the Ministry of Health.
Rodrigues to reopen on 1 November
The Covid Free Rodrigues has only reached 42% of the population fully vaccinated. But the principle of reopening being 60%, “the government has decided to postpone the date to 1st November to ensure that the population is duly inoculated and reaches the 60% rate.”
In conclusion, he said that the island enjoys a good reputation on the globe and hopes that the news of the CDC will not taint us. “Mauritius is a unique destination that many people will want to come to at least once in their lives,” he concluded. According to the VPM, we are good to go!
