Paradise Seychelles is COVID-19 free |22 May 2020
Paradise Seychelles is gearing up to welcome its first visitors with the re-opening of the airport on June 1, 2020 (Photos: Vanessa Lucas, STB)
After nine weeks of battling tirelessly the deadly COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, Seychelles – the small island holiday destination in the Indian Ocean with a population of less than a hundred thousand inhabitants – is now COVID-19 free.
The country, which reported 11 cases in total, has announced the last infected patient tested negative for a continuous number of days and is now considered to be healed from the COVID-19 virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Seychelles in March 2020 as the announcement of the first two cases of COVID-19 was made on March 14, 2020.
The number of cases on the island increased slowly during the following three weeks and reached its peak on April 6, 2020 when the 11th case was confirmed including the only two local transmitted cases following which there has been no other positive cases reported on the islands.
Behind the successful handling of the delicate situation resulting from this pandemic is the local authority known as the Public Health Authority under the supervision of its Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon.
The public health team reacted promptly and effectively to establish emergency protocols with the directions of the WHO, to respond to the COVID-19 crisis to treat the active cases and curb the spreading of the virus within its population. Provision for quarantine facilities and an immediate rapid response team was created from the time WHO had declared COVID-19 a pandemic in mid-January.
Following the detection of the last person subjected to the infection and acting in a precautionary manner to restrain the inflation of infection numbers in the Seychelles, a travel ban order imposed by the authorities came into effect at midnight on Wednesday April 8 in Seychelles, restricting movement for citizens except essential service workers. This measure was maintained for 21 days.
On April 28, 2020, President Danny Faure announced a lifting of restrictions on the movement of people on May 4, while travel restrictions will end on June 1, 2020 when the Seychelles International airport will reopen.
For the moment, Seychelles is free from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Seychellois authorities remain on high alert for any eventualities. The Public Health Authority alongside other organisations are working hard to keep citizens, expatriates and visitors safe from the pandemic.
As announced by the President on April 28, 2020, visitors and returning residents arriving in Seychelles will be subjected to strict measures imposed by the Public Health Authority, including a 14-day compulsory quarantine.
Speaking about the destination being free from COVID-19, the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Didier Dogley, stated that the exceptional work done by the health authorities has been tremendous and it has enabled the tourism stakeholders to get back to the drawing board to plan for the arrival of our first visitors.
“As the situation around the world remains precarious, it is a blessing for our small nation to have been able to curb the spread of the COVID-19 on our shores. As a destination, this is a very big advantage for Seychelles; there is a lot of preparatory work here on the ground with our partners to make sure that Seychelles sends a strong message of being a safe destination. When the world opens up and people start travelling, safety in regards to COVID-19 is going to be a major factor for visitors planning to go on holiday,” said Minister Dogley.
He further mentioned that with the opening of the airport on June 1, 2020, Seychelles will be in a very strong position to market itself as a safe destination; something that most tourists will be yearning for after being confined to their homes for months.
All cases have been reported and treated on Mahé. No cases have been reported on the inner island of Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette Island and the Outer Islands.
STB News Bureau