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Community transmission strongly possible, says PHA |30 October 2020

Public health facilities are on high alert as the possibility of community transmission of Covid-19 is highly possible considering the large scale election celebrations over the weekend, warned Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon yesterday afternoon.

During the press update yesterday afternoon at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre, Dr Gedeon explained that despite having only four active cases presently, all of whom are asymptomatic and under surveillance at the isolation centre at the Family Clinic, Persévérance, the risk of community transmission has been heightened by visitors and the local population alike, who are failing to adhere to health guidelines in place.

“We are noticing that there is some complacency gradually, on the part of population with regards to protection and prevention against Covid-19. We have observed, people are no longer interested with mask-wearing and in certain institutions, they are failing to practice social distancing but we must not let our guard down. Prevention is always better,” said Dr Gedeon.

“We are saying that it is strongly possible that there is community transmission that we are yet to detect in Seychelles. We saw the celebrations after the elections, there was a lot of interaction among people. We have people who entered the country as category 1 and others who have transitioned from category 2 who were out mingling with the public. And if there are any who are carriers, or there are others who have transmitted the infection, which is why we have launched a call to all our healthcare facilities to increase their level of alertness, or index of suspicion, any suspected cases to conduct a test immediately, and we will set the heightened alert for several weeks to come, the next two to three weeks,” Dr Gedeon explained.

The situation is causing healthcare and medical staff to be anxious that cases might be spreading within the community, said Dr Gedeon, urging that the public “stop taking things for granted”.

Furthermore, the risk of community transmission is further worsened by travellers who fail to meet entry requirements, as well as other conditions in place to guide them through their travels. Among the most problematic are Seychellois holding dual-nationalities or foreign passports, who travel to Seychelles under the false pretence that they have no social ties in Seychelles, but end up not respecting the conditions relating to quarantine and restrictions on movement.

“We are not discriminating but it is different for a visitor. They spend most of their time in the hotel but we observe that Seychellois who come in on their foreign passports do not follow the guidance of even the hotel establishment,” Dr Gedeon added.

Henceforth, all Seychellois who are found to have family or social ties, whether or not they hold any foreign passport will have to go through the 14-day quarantine process.

By yesterday, there were only four active cases, all of whom are foreign nationals. Up to Wednesday, there were five active cases, including one Seychellois who has since been discharged. All four are well.

Of the cases, two were detected over the weekend, including a Romanian who travelled to Seychelles to join a yacht. He was in quarantine and tested positive for the virus on the fifth day. The second case, a Belarusian visitor from Dubai, spent a month in Seychelles and is believed to have roamed around fairly freely, tested positive upon taking the exit test.

According to Dr Gedeon, the visitor has already developed antibodies against the virus, which could suggest that they were infected weeks ago, or that they were infected here and remained asymptomatic.

In total, Seychelles has recorded 155 cases, of which 19 were Seychellois, who had contracted and recovered from the virus prior to entering the country. The majority of cases thus far have been seafarers and visitors.

As of yesterday, 71 persons were in quarantine at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay facility, inclusive of inbound travellers and others who have been discharged from the isolation centre.

Chief executive of the Health Care Agency (HCA) Danny Louange also called for the public to be compliant with screening processes at healthcare facilities to better detect cases of infection, if any.

With regards to the testing facilities, spread out over the islands, small issues have been rectified through training and development of staff, Dr Louange stated.

On account that transmission is possible even if infected persons are asymptomatic and with the window of transmission at its most active between the fourth to eighth day, it is imperative that everyone remains cautious and alert, and that every precaution is taken to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, and minimise the risks of community transmission, both doctors asserted.

The global infection rate is nearing 50 million as many countries experience a second wave of infections.

 

Laura Pillay

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