Mauritius began another national lockdown on Wednesday 10 March 2020 that will last until 25 March 2021.
It is the second lockdown since coronavirus infections were detected in the Indian Ocean archipelago a year ago and come as 14 new cases were recorded.
“We had no other choice but total containment in order to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the population,” Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth announced on Tuesday evening in a televised address.
“This containment became necessary after the appearance of four new local positive cases of COVID-19, bringing to 14 the number of local positive cases registered since March 5.”
Only essential services will be operational from Wednesday, including the port, airport, hospital services and emergency relief.
As of Thursday, supermarkets, bakeries, petrol stations and pharmacies will be accessible on an alphabetical rotation basis.
“I am sure that we will be able to resume our activities as soon as possible”, the Prime Minister said.
