Mauritius, a country in the Indian Ocean, is continuing its proactive and transparent response to the global COVID pandemic, as it prepares to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated tourists on October 1, 2021, in a safe and secure manner.
The country has one of the highest vaccination rates in Africa, with over 60% of the population fully vaccinated (82 percent of the local adult population). The vaccine programme is still ongoing, and individuals under the age of 18 will be included in the rollout by the end of September 2021.
Throughout the pandemic, the country’s modern health service has performed admirably, adhering to strict regulations. The country’s excellent vaccination campaign and overall health management resulted in relatively low hospitalisation rates — just over 3% of patients were admitted to hospitals in the last 28 days, with the majority of them being admitted due to comorbidities rather than COVID-19 suggestive symptoms. It’s worth noting that the infection rate is being continuously monitored, and the recent surge has been progressively decreasing over the last two weeks.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. K. Jagutpal, explained: “We adopted a health-first approach with strict protocols to protect the population, from the beginning of the pandemic. Our public health services continue to operate to their normal capacity, with protocols being updated when relevant. Dedicated ICU facilities for COVID-19 patients have been set-up at the onset of the pandemic, and have been strengthened according to the Ministry’s preparedness plan worked out in collaboration with the World Health Organization.”
Minister Jagutpal added, “We instituted airport screening and the quarantining of travelers since 2020. Our vaccination rollout has been systematic, and we have already exceeded our target of fully vaccinated adults well ahead of the complete reopening of our borders to vaccinated travelers on the 1st of October.”
Mauritius has sadly documented 45 fatalities directly related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020, out of a population of around 1.3 million.
Dr. Laurent Musango, the World Health Organization’s local representative said, “We now all have to learn to live with COVID-19. The vaccination rollout in Mauritius was good and the vaccination rate high enough to make it safe to now ask the population to resume their normal lives, while respecting barrier measures. Of course, in the context of a pandemic, there are always more avenues to be considered to optimize safety, but Mauritius is doing well.”
Unvaccinated travellers can visit Mauritius, but they must stay in a state-designated hotel/facility for a 14-day quarantine. When the country reopens on October 1st, the same protocol for unvaccinated travellers will be in place, in keeping with its health-first approach.
– India’s new age travel digital media
