A new cluster of more than a hundred cases at the Koenig Tower with Real Garments, earlier a dormitory in Triolet de Princes Tuna, a new red zone in Bois Chéri, cases listed in Baie-du-Tombeau, Trou aux Biches, Rivière du rempart or the CEB even had to close for disinfection, after the 119 cases registered on Thursday, the country has 30 new cases and placards this Friday 568 active cases. But Health Minister Kailesh Jagutpal does not intend to announce drastic measures since “vaccination campaigns are increasing”.
The only good news of the day would be, the Vallée des Prêtres region is no longer a red zone since 6 pm this Friday 16. Being on its 14th day and following the negative results of the massive screening exercise, this decision of the High Level Committee on Covid-19 followed.
Delta variant suspected at La Tour Koenig
However, this matter’s seriousness is more considered by the most exposed. As Faizal Ally Beegun explains: “We suspect that it is the Delta variant that is gaining ground and causing all these contaminations that propagate and expand so quickly. That is why I asked that the Ministry of Health decree the entire Area include La Tour Koenig, Pointes aux Sables, Petite Rivière, Grande Rivière, Albion and Bambous among others. It is an industrial zone above all and such a busy one. ”
Having scrutinized this area, those who work but also their habits, the president of the Textile Manufacturers & Allied Workers Union (TMAWU) says he is even more concerned about the rate of contamination that the industrial zone could record in the coming days. “We must not forget that these Bangladeshi workers also work overtime regularly in other factories or others even in people’s yards or homes. Furthermore, they are in physical contact with each other and Mauritians. They are many to be married with families and most have boyfriends and girlfriends… So putting the positive cases from the dormitory in the center of Pointe aux Sables and leaving the negatively tested ones in the same dormitory not yet disinfected will not solve the contamination. This is a scruffiness of the health authorities. These Mauritian and foreign employees represent the country’s economy, and we should not show so much airiness towards their health security” warns Faizal Ally Beegun.
There is no urgency of such a decree at the Koenig Tower
The Minister of Health wants to be reassuring. He admits to being very aware of the problems but reveals all the same that the situation is under good management via screening centers, targeted mass screening campaigns, contact tracing, disinfection, quarantines, self-isolation but above all “vaccination is also increasing, we will soon reach 60% of the population inoculated with at least one dose of vaccine that is more than 600,000 people to date. 35% have already received two doses at today’s count,” he announced.
If Bois Chéri was announced Red Zone with 7 cases initially, Dr Jagutpal explained this birthday party in question gathered a still countless number of people and “we learned that there would have been more than 70 people including many from other parts of the island”. Explaining why he didn’t decree la Tour Koenig into a Red Zone “the cases were discovered in a single place where these people sleep. During the screening campaigns in this place, we base ourselves on specific questions such as Vaccines or not, age, diseases or conditions among others that allow us to assess the risks of contamination and especially its spread outside the area under examination. For now there is no urgency of such a decree at la Tour Koenig,” says Dr Jagutpal.
He still conceded that the variant is indeed on the island but mastered “these Delta variants, numbering 6 to date, have been detected on incoming passengers who have been quarantined and cured. For the time being, PCR tests, just as effective for this variant, have not revealed cases of Delta variant circulating in our territory. Active cases are of the same initial virus that has been modified and adapted according to the health states of the infected. Our contact tracing exercise has been very beneficial as most cases come from asymptomatic people,” he said.
It is not to be omitted that a third dose could be needed for the population and that this third dose could be a different vaccine from the two previous doses.
