During an official go to to France, Andry Rajoelina introduced a attainable opening of the Malagasy borders to all foreigners. Access to Madagascar has been extraordinarily restricted since March 2020, a 12 months and a half in the past, the day of the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic on the island.
as reported from Antananarivo, Laure Verneau
Border openings sure, however on one situation: that the well being state of affairs permits it.
If the coronavirus epidemic has been on the low slope for just a few weeks, in line with official authorities figures, two medical doctors at two hospitals within the capital verify this downward development, three months after the second wave of Covid.
According to official accounts, 43,000 folks have been contaminated and 955 have died from the coronavirus since March 2020.
The govt has all the time faltered the spectrum of the Delta variant to justify this long-term closure of borders, within the face of the incomprehensibility of the complete non-public sector, which obtained no assist throughout the disaster.
According to the Groupement des entreprises de Madagascar, 80% of Malagasy corporations have seen their enterprise local weather deteriorate in two years. And the sector has misplaced nearly 40% of its turnover.
Tourism, which represents 7% of GDP and helps nearly a million folks in the complete worth chain, misplaced 800 million turnover in 2021. “The state and companies must learn to live with it. Viruses and introduce protocols so that activities can resume, explains an entrepreneur who prefers to remain anonymous. Closing the borders only drives back the problem. ”
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