Covid-19 update |27 November 2020

Dr Louange and Dr Gedeon during the press meet yesterday (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

Avani to be the new quarantine facility as from Monday November 30

• 9 active cases in Seychelles

Avani hotel, located at Barbarons, will become the new quarantine facility which will be used by the health authority as from Monday November 30.

Since March 2020, it was Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay hotel that was used as the quarantine centre and the agreement has come to an end.

This announcement was made by the Health Care Agency chief executive, Dr Danny Louange, in the weekly health update yesterday at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre.

He also announced that as from Monday November 30, the testing centre currently at the Maison Football, Roche Caiman will be moved to the Music Stadium at Rivière Anglaise.

The Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gédéon, said that there are currently nine active cases in the country as of yesterday, all of whom are foreigners.

“One case is a local transmission on a remote island and he is without symptoms. The three positive cases from Praslin have been moved to Mahé as two of them were having symptoms and the five other cases are in quarantine. One of the patients, an expatriate staff, contracted the virus through exposure to a visitor who had the infection and who has recuperated on an island,” said Dr Gédéon.

This brings the number of total cases of Covid-19 in the country to 171 with 162 recovered cases. Dr Gédéon also noted that the number of PCR tests conducted as of November 26 stands at 4183 and has exceeded the number of tests so far conducted in Seychelles.

“We know that the President is also going for a state travel and we have advised him of all the precautions they need to take and also Mauritius being a low risk country, upon his return he will be able to attend to his duties but with certain restrictions.”

Dr Louange added that there are currently 76 people in quarantine at Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay and 13 people on Praslin in the Praslin Holiday Home.

“All people in quarantine are still doing ok and not presenting any symptoms. To keep Seychelles safe, it is important to continue to monitor the people who are in quarantine as we detected the last two cases while they were in quarantine.”

Going forward, Dr Gedeon stated that Seychelles already has a chain of preparations to welcome a big number of tourists. “Of course we will have more Covid cases in Seychelles, but what is more important is how we conduct ourselves. If we abide by all the measures set in place, we protect ourselves and our family. Moving the main testing station to the Music Stadium is also one of the measures taken to prepare for the way forward.”

Testing stations

Dr Gédéon noted that three private providers are also getting ready to provide the PCR tests with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health.

Dr Louange added that the last day for testing at the Maison Football will be on Monday and the public is advised to go the Music Stadium as no more tests will be conducted at the Maison Football from Monday. He also clarified that the Health Care Agency has received a few complaints about the regional testing stations and their operations. There have been cases were tourists although having an appointment ended up waiting for more than two hours before being attended to.

“It is unfortunate that this had to happen and we have been addressing the issues but we will look into it again.”

Advice for the festive period

Dr Gédéon once again urges the public to abide by the public health guidelines and if there are any activities the offices want to do, to use the registered restaurants or hotels.

“The family will have their family gatherings but we ask them to avoid the three Cs – Crowded places, Close-contact settings and Confined and enclosed spaces. We have to be aware that we are preparing the country to open up for tourism and we need to be more conscious.”

For the festive season, Dr Gédéon noted that they are working with the Seychelles Licensing Authority to see if the shops can remain open until later for the festive period.

Dr Louange stated that it is unfortunate to see that during the festive seasons we have more people coming in casualty with problems related to alcohol and accidents. “We want to reduce admission at the hospital, now is the time to celebrate differently and be safe,” concluded Dr Louange.

Vidya Gappy