Report cites the country’s management of the COVID-19 as exemplary. “Mauritius has successfully contained the number of infections and deaths from COVID-19, registering no fatalities for almost five months. This is due to the government’s quick response to the health pandemic. The country is still facing the severe economic costs of a sharp decline in economic activity during the second quarter of 2020.
For instance, industrial production plunged 40.4 percent year-on-year in 2020. In the second half of January, it put in place a series of protocol measures for passengers arriving from abroad- including temperature checks and 14-day quarantines for travellers from high-risk countries. After registering the first three COVID-19 cases by mid-March, the country closed its borders and implemented a full lockdown on March 24.
The stringency of the containment measures imposed on the island is reflected in the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index for April and May” says the report. COVID-19 testing also became a priority at the onset of the pandemic. Front-line health workers were regularly tested. People who were asymptomatic and those with compatible symptoms to COVID-19 were tested. The country leads Africa in testing per 1,000 people (193.6), a rate that is comparable to that of Norway and New Zealand. The rapid response from the government and public support and compliance were key to controlling the pandemic.
Among non-resource-intensive countries, the loss of tourism revenues has weighed heavily on fiscal balances in tourism-dependent economies, including Mauritius and the Seychelles. These economies are expected to experience a double-digit increase in their fiscal deficits in 2020. In 2019, about 10 countries in this sub Saharan region had a debt level of over 60 percent of GDP. In 2020, this number is expected to rise to 15, slightly more than half of the countries.
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