The Cabinet met today under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister,
the Hon. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.  The highlights of the deliberations are as follows:

1. Cabinet has taken note of the situation pertaining to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the measures taken to contain the pandemic, namely:

 (a)  as at 7 May 2020, out of 22,555 PCR tests carried out, 332 persons had been tested positive;

(b)  as at 7 May 2020, 39,057 Rapid Antigen tests for COVID-19 had been carried out;

(c) as at 7 May 2020, there were two patients at the New ENT Hospital and the number of persons successfully treated was 320; and

(d) more than 1,000 stranded Mauritians have been repatriated from South Africa, India, UK, Dubai, Réunion, Australia and France since the closure of the airspace on 19 March 2020.

2. Cabinet has taken note that an IT Platform to receive suggestions for COVID-19 related issues has been introduced on the Web Portal and mobile application “beSafeMoris”.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the procurement of tablets to be provided to 2,572 children under the Social Register of Mauritius (SRM) attending Grade 10 to Grade 13 classes to enable them to follow online courses dispensed by the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology.

4. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of a Work-from-Home Scheme for Public Officers. The Ministry of Public Service, Administrative and Institutional Reforms would issue a circular accordingly.

5. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, through video conference, in the Online Summit of the Contact Group of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in response to COVID-19.  The theme of the Summit was “United against COVID-19 pandemic”.  The objective of the Summit was to make an effective contribution to the global efforts in tackling the unprecedented disruptive effects of the pandemic.  In his statement, the Chair of NAM called for friendship, mutual support and solidarity among NAM Member States in the fight against COVID-19.  The Director-General of the World Health Organisation gave a briefing on the current situation of the pandemic and the global health challenges ahead.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade made a strong appeal for the collective action and solidarity of the NAM Member States for special measures to be adopted to assist Africa and Small Island Developing States to gain access to medical supplies and equipment. The Online Summit adopted the NAM Declaration, which emphasises the importance of international solidarity in the fight against COVID-19, inter-state cooperation for the provision of necessary medical supplies and equipment as well as for strengthening multilateralism for post-pandemic economic and social stability and development.

Note: Cabinet decisions are available on the internet. The address is http://pmo.govmu.org

Government Information Service

Prime Minister’s Office

Port Louis

08 May 2020