Reopening of borders without restrictions does not come without conditions! The National Communications Committee press briefing on Thursday 30 September by VPM Steve Obeegadoo and Deepak Balgobin, Minister of ICT, was to announce the compulsory vaccination of the public for access to certain key locations from early to mid-October and the operationalisation of the Digital Health Pass at midnight on the BeSafeMoris app.
A historic step
This “historic step after 18 months of border closures” as the VPM puts it is based on “confirmation of vaccine efficacy, reassurance of the population through calculated risks, continued entry of passengers under strict conditions, preparedness planning for hospitals and medical staff, mandatory vaccination where needed, phased decontamination, air connectivity, destination marketing, and technological support to facilitate recovery”.
New protocols where vaccination is mandatory
A list of new protocols was announced by VPM Steve Obeegadoo “to better protect the population and tourists” he said. This is part of the calculated risks voted by the High Level Committee. In short, vaccination will be mandatory not only for staff but also for the public.
In order to have access to hotels and sports centres, both parties will have to be vaccinated, and this will come into effect from October first. By 15 October, staff will need to be vaccinated in order to operate in police stations, fire stations and wedding halls. But by 15 October, both staff and the public will have to be vaccinated to enter restaurants, hairdressing and beauty salons, cinemas, concert halls, bars, discotheques and casinos. The same applies to residents and staff in dormitories, but also to visitors.
The above are in addition to the list of Education, Health, Police and Fire, Airport, Port, Prisons and Homes.
As for the tourists, they will present their respective proof of vaccination approved by their countries. Furthermore, all arrivals, Mauritians and foreigners, will be obliged to fill in and specify their place of residence on the Passenger Locator Form in order to be contacted and followed up until their second PCR test on day 5 and more if necessary.
Digital Sanitary Pass a reality
The presentation of proof of vaccination will be requested, in a way, almost everywhere. So as promised at its presentation, the Digital Sanitary Pass is up and running and available for download since midnight on 30 September on the BesafeMoris app and the MoKloud web platform.
How to
“The BeSafeMoris application is already available on the Playstore for Android and will be available on the Appstore for iPhone in the near future. The user will then have to enter his ID card/passport number followed by his mobile phone number. A One Time Password will be sent to the user,” explained the ICT Minister at the press conference.
The crucial information of the vaccinated such as his first second or third dose, but also the one who has been exempted from vaccination under the certification of the Ministry of Health will also be visible from the scanned QR code at the entrance of the majority of places where this proof of vaccination will be requested. For those who cannot use a smartphone will be able to have it printed. And the government has set up advisors at the various post offices who will register, download and print this paper version of the ‘Pass’ free of charge for those who cannot afford to do so.
How it will function
Minister Balgobin also explained that this system is guaranteed to be free of fraud or forgery because at the time of scanning everything is revealed. “The fraudulent will not only be banned but also arrested, we count on those responsible to alert the authorities,” he warned. In addition, the green vaccination card will remain a proof of vaccination until the complete digitization of the dynamic and evolving number of vaccinated in the first, second, third dose and also young people between 15 and 18 years which according to the VPM “in two days of campaign towards this bracket, 10% of young people aged 15 to 18 years are already vaccinated with Pfizer. The Ministry of ICTs is also working with the Laboratory Inventory Management System to compile a list of those vaccinated.
Regarding the Digital Sanitary Pass, the Minister of ICTs did not fail to reveal that they are working with international bodies for an International Digital Sanitary Pass.
DPM: “19 airlines to serve Mauritius in December
On 1st October we will receive the arrival of 7 passenger flights, by various airlines and it is estimated that more than 2000 passengers will step on our SSR International Airport. According to Steven Obeegadoo “17 airlines will serve Mauritius in October and we are expecting 19 in December 2021” and to explain the craze of passengers for our destination and at the same time that the management of the Covid 19 is good in Mauritius he launched “before the Covid, 21 airlines served our island”.
