Africa-Press – Mauritius. The High-Level Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, as well as the Cabinet, have reviewed the protocols for the funeral of dead COVID-19 positive patients and as such, a site will be allocated in each cemetery in Mauritius for their burial.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, made the announcement, this afternoon, at the press briefing of the National Communication Committee on COVID-19, at the New Treasury Building in Port-Louis.
The Health Minister recalled that as at date, the burials of patients who passed away due to COVID-19 were taken in charge by the Sanitary Department of the Ministry of Health. They were buried at the cemeteries of Bigara and Bois Marchand.
He indicated that this protocol has been reviewed and in the coming days, funeral companies will receive training on the appropriate ways of handling a COVID-19 deceased patient.
As from next week, they will be able to take over the burial of patients that pass away either at hospitals or in self-isolation, and perform the funeral rites in any cemetery of the island.
As regards families who are not registered with funeral companies, the Minister underlined that the previous protocol will be maintained. Dr Jagutpal also informed that the Ministry will contract out the burial for these families to funeral companies.
Dr Jagutpal moreover gave an overview of the ongoing vaccination campaign and highlighted that to date, some 838,127 persons have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, representing more than 66% of the population. In addition, some 776,923 persons have already been fully vaccinated, which represent 62% of the overall population, he underlined.
As far as Rodrigues is concerned, the Minister indicated that 22,429 persons have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, representing 52% of the population, while the number of persons fully vaccinated stands at 16,869 (39% of the population).
The Health Minister further spoke about the situation in treatment centres and at the New ENT Hospital. There are 46 patients admitted at the New ENT Hospital with three patients with mild symptoms, two with severe symptoms and one patient under ventilator, while 40 asymptomatic patients are being monitored due to their medical condition.
Moreover, Dr Jagutpal indicated that there are currently 3,573 COVID-19 positive cases. 3,040 patients are self-isolating at their residence as they are already vaccinated and asymptomatic.
The rest of the positive patients are admitted in the different hospitals around the island and have not been transferred to treatment centres as they were initially admitted to these hospitals due to other health issues and are following treatment for same, he pointed out.
With regards to the Domiciliary Monitoring Unit, he remarked that the doctors who have been recruited to operate the Unit are supervising self-isolated patients via phone and through home visits as well so as to provide them with the necessary treatment and take required actions when needed.
