Republic of Mauritius- Government doing its best to contain the propagation of Covid-19

The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal made this statement, this evening, at the daily press briefing of the National Communication Committee on Covid-19, at the Treasury Building in Port Louis.

The minister said that Government is also working on various scenarios for the coming days and reassured the population that the country has the necessary protective equipment for health workers as well as the essential medical supplies to deal with increasing and urgent demands brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Government will come up with the best health care plan as well as proactive measure to contain the pandemic, he said.

The Minister underlined that the contact tracing is enabling the early detection of positive cases and preventing further contamination through isolation and treatment of the patients, hence enabling the country to have a good control of the pandemic.

He recalled that four centres are providing health facilities and adequate treatment for Covid-19 patients, namely the Souillac and the ENT hospitals that are both equipped to take charge of patients in critical state, and two other transformed health centres namely, Pointe aux Piment centre and Victoria Hotel.

As for Dr Vasantrao Gujadhur, he underlined that China has marked a major turning point in its battle against the previous surge of Covid-19 cases and is now reporting lesser new positive cases and deaths, following its draconian preventive measures.

He urged the population to ponder over their priorities by considering that an explosion of the pandemic on our territory will result in a devastating blow to the economy with the imminent threat of an over-burdened healthcare.

As at now, he said 20 patients are admitted in the Souillac Hospital, 46 at Pointe aux Piment centre, 87 at Victoria Hotel and 20 at the ENT hospital. 6 other patients are to be shortly admitted.

He also advised those who suspect of being infected by the Covid-19, to undertake self-isolation measures to avoid contamination of other family members and wait until Health Officers come to carry out the necessary tests.  He also spoke about the necessity for everyone to take the responsibility of self-containing the pandemic, by reporting suspected cases and taking precautionary measures which include personal hygiene, social distancing and self-isolation.

He again deplored the irresponsible behaviour of those who are defying the confinement instructions and social distancing while recalling that the transmission of Covid-19 grows more acute with frequent displacement and physical interactions.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr K Jhugroo expressed satisfaction with the slight positive behavioural change of those who went grocery shopping today as compared to yesterday. He stressed on the need to avoid overcrowding and keeping a safe social distance when going out to avoid contamination.

He indicated that more officers are being deployed to ensure that the public adhere to safety measures and added that some 1100 police officers were present today at various supermarkets. Additionally, he said that today some 36 persons were reprimanded and cautioned for not respecting shopping rules including 3 bakery owners.

He added that more vehicle check points will be put in place tomorrow by the Police and that supermarkets will be under greater surveillance. As regards the payment of Old Age Pension, he announced that some 250 police officers are helping officers of the Post Office to carry out the exercise.

Latest figures

•        Mauritius counts an additional 17 positive cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 186, among which seven have died.

•        82 cases are imported from overseas, while 104 are locally transmitted

•        1661 persons are under quarantine

•        398 persons previously under quarantine have been discharged

•        Some 3155 tests have been conducted as at now

•        More than 600 tests were made on 02 April 2020