Mauritius reopens borders to foreign travelers after COVID-19 lockdown

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius on Friday reopened its borders to fully vaccinated visitors, its government said in a statement.

The statement said that unvaccinated visitors are also welcome but they should expect to undergo a 14-day quarantine at a designated hotel, before being allowed to explore the holiday destination.

“It is recalled that all fully-vaccinated visitors require a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours from the last point of embarkation and COVID-19 insurance health cover,” it said.

Mauritius has fully vaccinated 68% of its 1.3 million population and about 90% have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

A large number of people on the island depend on tourism to make a living since it is one of the world’s popular tourism destinations.

"The Emirates A380 aircraft was the first to land on Mauritian soil at around nine o’clock this morning,” the government statement said, adding that other major airlines that flew to Mauritius on Friday included British Airways from Gatwick, and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul.

The communique further said the flagship carrier Air Mauritius also scheduled flights from Paris and Reunion Island.

“By noon more than 1,100 passengers had landed at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport,” the statement said, adding that the total number of arrivals for today is expected to be more than 2,000.

The country also expects flights from Nairobi with Kenya Airways, Reunion Island with Air Austral and Johannesburg with Air Mauritius.