Prime Minister, Mr.  Pravind Jugnauth, on Thursday night, announced the easing of restrictions as from 1 July 2021 imposed in March 2021 because of the second outbreak of the Covid-19 in the island.

Speaking on the national television, Mr Jugnauth enumerated the new measures that will be allowed as from that date. As such, social gatherings of a maximum of 50 persons will be allowed, restaurants and food courts can  be opened, places of worship and cultural/social events, funerals and marriage ceremony can be organised with a maximum of 50 persons, and community and social centres and sports activities will be allowed.

However, access to public beach will be allowed for activities including walking and swimming but not for picnics, while casinos and gaming houses, theatres, nightclubs, cinema halls will all stay closed. Mr Jugnauth pointed out that all these activities will be allowed but with the strict adherence to sanitary protocols and measures.

The number of cases referred to the Cybercrime Unit for investigation for the period January 2015 to 10 June 2021 is 1,888. This number includes 153cases for the period January 2021 to 10 June 2021.

This information was given by the Prime Minister (PM), Mr Pravind Jugnauth, in the National Assembly, in reply to a Parliamentary Question pertaining to the number of cases referred to the Cybercrime Unit and the number of police officers attached thereto.

Prime Minster Jugnauth highlighted that the Cybercrime Unit is manned by 22 police officers as follows: One Assistant Superintendent of Police; two Inspectors of Police; two Police Sergeants; 15 Police Constables; and two Woman Police Constables. The Unit, he underscored, is under the supervision of a Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Police IT Unit provides them with technical support in the course of their investigations.

The Seychelles’ health authority is looking into the possibility of administering COVID-19 booster shots to curb community transmission in the island nation.

The Public Health Commissioner, Jude Gedeon, told a press conference on Thursday that “we are saying that six months after getting the second dose, we will see if a booster shot is necessary and if that is the case it will be given around August.”

Gedeon said that “vaccines that will be used for the booster has not been decided yet as we follow the guidelines of other countries that have the ability to do this kind of research. So this is being done for us to know what will be our next step.”

Currently, Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, is doing a survey to find out the immunity level in the community.

Seychelles rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination programme in January and to date, 66,543 people have been vaccinated which is 68 percent of the total population of 98,462. Three vaccines have been administered namely Sinopharm, Covishield and Sputnik V. Seychelles presently has 1,293 active cases and has recorded 46 deaths up to June 9. (SNA)

La morosité fait place à l’optimisme croissance de 9%

Tout au long de la présentation des propositions budgétaires 2021-2022, le Ministre des Finances, R. Padayachy, a égrené tout un chapelet des projets qui nécessiteront quelques Rs .65 milliards et pour venir avec une prévision de 9% pour la croissance économique du pays pour cette année fiscale. Où trouver l’argent ? Le ministre a semble-t-il choisi la voie la plus facile : augmenter les droits d’accise de 10% sur les boissons alcoolisées et la cigarette. Donc, à partir de demain, le petit peuple paiera quelques roupies de plus sur sa topette de rhum. Qui dit mieux ?Toutefois, on note un gros manquement : le ‘time-frame’ pour la réalisation des projets annoncés et sur lesquels le ministre s’est appuyé pour soutenir sa proposition de croissance économique de 9%. Est-ce que ces projets seront complétés durant cet exercice financier ou seront traînés pendant de longues années comme tant d’autres projets annoncés en grande pompe dans le passé, mais dont l’achèvement se fait encore attendre ?Entre l’optimisme et la réalité, c’est la distance entre la coupe et les lèvres… Par contre, les mesures sociales sont les bienvenues car elles allègeront le fardeau financier des familles dont les parents nécessitent des soins médicaux à Maurice ou à l’étranger.Pas un mot sur la protection du pouvoir d’achatLe Ministre des Finances, Renganaden Padyachy n’a pas soufflé mot sur la protection des consommateurs qui font face à une augmentation des prix allant de 20% à 50% sur les denrées de base, sauf l’annonce dans son discours pou maintenir les subventions pour la farine. L’indice des prix à la consommation a augmenté de décembre 2020 à mai 2021 de 106,1 points à 109,8 points en mai dernier.En contrepartie, le Ministre a choisi la voie la plus facile pour gonfler les caisses du gouvernement en imposant une augmentation de 10% des droits d’accises sur les boissons alcoolisées dont le rhum, la cigarette et aussi l’augmentation de Rs2.00 sur le prix de l’essence et de diesel.Nous avons noté avec satisfaction l’augmentation du budget de l’education à 17 milliards cela consolidera l’education des enfants de l’enseignement pré-primaire à l’enseignement supérieur en temps de cette pandémie.Suttyhudeo TengurPresident APEC11 Juin 2021

Épidémie de dengue à La Réunion : un décès et 2 074 nouveaux cas en 6 jours

Du 10 au 16 mai, 2 074 cas de dengue ont été confirmés à l’île de La Réunion. L’épidémie se poursuit à un niveau élevé malgré le début de l’hiver austral (près de 2 000 cas confirmés chaque semaine depuis 4 semaines). Elle touche l’ensemble du territoire.

Source : LINFO.re

The police has informed the population that it is strictly forbidden to leave the Red Zones. Except for certain exceptional cases, people with significant medical needs, people required to appear in court and essential services holders of WAP. Members of the public are encouraged to inform the police of any violations of the rules established on Hotline 183.

Highlights

1.         Labour force decreased by 20,900 (-18,100 males and -2,800 females) from 591,000 in 2019 to 570,100 in 2020. During the same period, the number of those outside labour force increased by 26,000 from 405,600 to 431,600.

2.         Mauritian employment decreased by 33,400 (-28,800 males and -4,600 females) from 551,300 in 2019 to 517,900 in 2020. 

3.         Unemployment increased by 12,500 (+10,700 males and +1,800 females) from 39,700 in 2019 to 52,200 in 2020 resulting in an unemployment rate of 9.2%. From 2019 to 2020, male unemployment rate increased from 4.4% to 7.8% and female unemployment rate rose from 10.2% to 11.1%.

4.         Unemployment rate in 2020 was highest in the lowest age group (16 to 24 years) with a rate of 26.1% (23.2% for male and 29.6% for female) and decreased progressively with increasing age.

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5.         Those outside the labour force (economically inactive) increased by 26,000 from 405,600 in 2019 to 431,600 in 2020. 

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The Minister of Health said that the English variant was detected in two patients who tested positive on their return to the country while nine others were infected with the South African variant. In addition, the majority of local patients whose samples have been sequenced are contaminated with a variant of interest.

On January 9 of this year, 20 samples of samples taken from passengers returning to Mauritius were sent to England for sequencing. Of these, three were carriers of the South African variant, 14 infected with a variant that “does not change the way the virus works” and three samples could not be analyzed.

Another batch of 20 samples was sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa. These were 17 imported cases and 3 local cases. Three cases of the South African variant and one case of the English variant were detected.

The third batch, which consisted of 40 samples consisting of seven imported cases and 33 local cases, was sent to South Africa on March 13. It was in this batch that the B 1.1.318 variant, classified as variant of interest, was detected in local patients. This variant is present in 32 countries. This batch also revealed a case of a South African variant and a case of an English variant in quarantined passengers.

Some 21,000 people have been booked for not having worn a sanitary mask (Section 79 of the Public Health Act) or for having committed a “breach of temporary movement order”, among others, under the Quarantine Act.

224 cases of non-compliance with health protocol during confinement will thus be heard by the Courts from May 17 to 21, 2021. They face a fine not exceeding Rs 500,000 and imprisonment not exceeding five years.

The Small Farmers Welfare Fund will provide financial assistance of Rs 2,000 per arpent in favour of planters, under the Agricultural Calamities Solidarity Scheme, who have suffered losses following the torrential rainfall which occurred in March 2021 and as from 16 April 2021.

In addition, a one-off compensation of Rs 4,000 per arpent would be granted to planters in order to provide better support to planters in restarting their plantations, taking into consideration the factors of production that would be required immediately namely seeds, land preparation and fertilisers.