Port Louis– In late January 2020 the seclusion ward at Souillac Hospital in the south of Port Louis had six people in quarantine. They had actually flown to the Mauritian capital from Wuhan city. This was long before the Indian Ocean island confirmed its very first COVID-19 cases, but stringent measures were currently in result to spot and prevent the virus from dispersing.
When the nation reported the preliminary cases on 18 March, it took just five weeks to bring down the infections from a cluster of regional cases to zero cases, ending up being the first in Africa to consist of the spread of COVID-19 The accomplishment is mostly credited to quick action in imposing a raft of strict preventive and control procedures.
” Our national response was timely and decisive,” Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth in August told the yearly World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee meeting which collects African health ministers and federal government representatives.
Right after the first cases were discovered, Mauritius enforced a nationwide lockdown, stepped up screening, contact tracing and public awareness on preventive procedures. It also enhanced screening and invested more resources in the response, obtaining medicines and devices.
Rapid action groups were set up and posted at each regional healthcare facility, and all health workers included in COVID-19 prevention and control geared up with personal protective equipment.
Health Minister Dr Kailash Kumar Jagatpal stated careful contact tracing “helped the country to saves numerous lives.” The nationwide task force on COVID-19, which fulfilled day-to-day and chaired by Prime Minister Jugnauth, made contact tracing, screening and treatment the foundations of the reaction.
As of 31 August, Mauritius had actually done over 226 000 tests comprising 160 315 fast antigen and more than 66 000 polymerase domino effect tests– the COVID-19 gold basic diagnosis. It has just 11 active cases– all imported– and has actually had no local transmission given that 26 April 2020.
The island country’s experiences in managing malaria, chikungunya and dengue break outs and its well-established monitoring system was a boon to COVID-19 detection and response.
Mauritius was among 13 African countries determined by WHO at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as being at high threat due to high volume of international travel, high prevalence of noncommunicable diseases, high population density and long life expectancy– older people are thought about to be at a greater threat of serious disease from COVID-19 An initial modelling by WHO anticipated about 90 000 moderate, severe or critical cases and over 800 deaths in Mauritius if containment steps failed.
Thanks to the robust reaction the country has to date registered 356 cases and 10 deaths.
Substantial political dedication, strong preparedness and action coordination, in which WHO played an essential function, has been instrumental in curbing the infection. “I appreciate that all the technical guidance provided by WHO has actually been taken on board by the Federal government of Mauritius,” said Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Agent in Mauritius.
Much credit is also due to the nation’s sophisticated public health system.
” To attain universal health protection, we have put in place a public health system which is complimentary, available and sophisticated from main healthcare to specialized services,” Prime Minister Jugnauth stated, discussing that the nation will invest some US$ 1.7 billion in the general public health sector throughout the next 5 years.
” It is important to have an efficient health system at a time when we are experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic,” he stated. “The federal government continues to invest significantly in the health sector for both present and future generations.”
Comments
Post a Comment