Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Public Health Authority (PHA) has said that right now it is not necessary to introduce any restrictive measures or requirements for any passengers from any country, including China, entering Seychelles.
In a press conference yesterday, Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon said the decision has been taken in spite of a surge in respiratory illnesses globally, especially in the Northern hemisphere, including the surge of Covid-19 in China which has caused many countries to introduce certain restrictive measures.
“We have reviewed all the information available, we have looked at our current status in terms of vaccination, our community immunity how it is holding, our rate of infection, our admission, and we have concluded that right now it is not necessary to introduce any restrictive measures or requirements for any passengers from any country including China coming into Seychelles,” Dr Gedeon said.
However, Dr Gedeon noted that given that we are not putting in place restrictive measures or requirements for any incoming passengers, the ministry will be monitoring the global situation including the trends on the kind of variants and sub-variants (which so far has been only Omicron discovered since May 2022) currently circulating in the country.
He said that the new XBB 1.5 Covid-19 Omicron variant affecting China and some other countries globally is not present in the country at the moment.
He added that there have been very few cases of Omicron present in the country during the past few weeks which had limited the number of samples sent overseas for testing but the ministry will continue to send samples available for test overseas to complement tests done locally.
Dr Gedeon stated that given the severity of illness being caused by the XBB 1.5 variant that is causing higher rate of infections in many countries, it is not more severe in terms of illness other than causing more people getting infected amid a mix of other kinds of viruses such as the influenza virus, cold and respiratory viruses in circulation which combine to aggravate situations in many hospitals especially in places experiencing winter.
“We will continue to monitor the situation very closely and we will keep the public informed,” Dr Gedeon said.
Dr Gedeon urged the public to remain vigilant and to continue taking personal responsibility so as to prevent respiratory infection.
He called on persons with symptoms to get tested and to follow instructions given.
He noted that while face masks are not mandatory, people can still wear one to help prevent transmission of respiratory infections, especially in enclosed spaces.
As at Tuesday January 3 there were 41 active cases of Covid-19 in the country with 34 reported cases on Mahé, six cases on Praslin and with only one case on La Digue. The seven day rolling average is 3 cases.
With regard to other diseases of concern in the country, Dr Gedeon said that that now with the wet weather, the ministry is anticipating an increase in dengue fever and leptospirosis and it is advising the public to clean their home surroundings and to remove objects that could create breeding grounds for mosquitoes and to also put foot wear while walking outside to prevent being in contact with rat urine.
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