Covid-19 update |10 September 2021
Dr Henriette and Dr Gedeon during the press update yesterday (Photo: Thomas Meriton)
Community transmission persists in all districts
The Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon, has reiterated that community transmission is persisting in all districts and that people should continue to remain extra vigilant and to strictly adhere to public health measures such as proper wearing of masks, physical distancing, among others, to prevent a surge in new number of cases.
He made the statement yesterday afternoon during the Covid-19 press update organised by the Ministry of Health at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre. Also present was the director of the Seychelles Hospital, Dr Kenneth Henriette.
“Let us all work together to prevent transmission and bring the numbers down. It is not about numbers, it’s all about our health. So let us all participate in bringing the numbers down. Continue to help us, help yourselves and help the country in preventing further spread of the coronavirus,” he said.
With regard to the Covid-19 situation in the country, Dr Gedeon said that a total of 20,593 people have contracted the virus, among whom 19,878 patients have recovered. There are at the moment 605 active cases with 578 on Mahé, 19 on Praslin, 7 on La Digue and one (1) on Cerf Island. Five people have died from the virus in September 2021, bringing the total to 110 deaths.
He added that most people who have died from the virus (89) were not vaccinated.
He noted that from May to June 2021, there had been a gradual drop in the number of active cases but for the past couple of weeks it had remained stagnant at around 500 active cases, but jumping to 605 active cases this month.
Dr Gedeon said that compared to a minority of active cases among foreigners, who have to take a PCR test prior to entry into the country, the majority of active cases are Seychellois of all age groups, among whom a lot of youngsters are being tested positive. Anse Aux Pins is the district with the highest number of active cases (50) followed by Perseverance and Anse Royale.
He added that with the 7-day rolling average for transmission of the virus remaining steady at 50 and 60 cases for the past couple of weeks and with community transmission persisiting, it is important to continue maintain certain preventive measures in place.
For his part, Dr Henriette said that 46 patients are in the isolation centres among whom 10 are moderate to severe cases and one is in a very critical condition, in relation to severe chronic lung disease.
He urged patients with lung disease and who have recovered from Covid-19, to continue to take precaution and to practice the health measures in place against the virus.
He called on those who haven’t been vaccinated to, through medical advice, get vaccinated to protect themselves against Covid-19.
He noted that the screening for Covid-19 is ongoing.
Dr Gedeon said that the Ministry of Health has an evaluation programme for community transmission in the country which has been classified into four transmission levels and the response capacity into three levels – Adequate, Moderate and Limited. The evaluation is based on the number of transmissions and admissions.
Patrick Joubert