The island paradise of Seychelles has become the second country in the Indian Ocean to become free of Covid-19. The nation of fewer than one hundred thousand inhabitants reported 11 cases in total, and the last infected patient has tested negative for a number of consecutive days and is now considered to be fully recovered and virus free.
Earlier in the month, Mauritius declared total recoveries from coronavirus infections on May 11, 2020. The island nation’s official COVID-19 page said 322 people had recovered out of the 332 confirmed cases, with 10 people unfortunately passing away.
Both of these countries acted promptly to close borders and restrict internal movements in order to control spread of the virus. Whilst there will inevitably be some new social distancing procedures and additional screening to ensure the virus is not reintroduced to either country, both are able to lift internal restrictions and start to look forward to reopening their borders to overseas visitors.
Seychelles International airport will reopen on June 1, 2020, and we expect to have confirmation of when the airport in Mauritius will open fairly shortly.
Hopefully this is indicative of a turning point in the battle against this terrible disease. Namibia and Botswana have only had a handful of cases each, and will be hoping to be amongst the next countries to declare themselves virus free.
In the meantime, here are a few of our favourite places in Seychelles and Mauritius…it might be time to start planning your next holiday!
