A case of the South African variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Reunion, the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency (ARS) said on Sunday.
The prefecture also announced in a press release that "anyone who has traveled to Mayotte, Comoros and Mozambique over the past 14 days will be asked to carry out an RT-PCR test as soon as possible".
READ ALSO>
Variants of Covid-19: "It may be necessary one day to vaccinate children", warns Alain Fischer
Another positive case for the 501.V2 variant, known as the South African variant, was confirmed on Saturday in Mayotte.
The prefecture of this other French department in the Indian Ocean then suspended international sea and air links.
"His care path was secure from the start"
In Réunion, the infected patient "was hospitalized on January 7 in intensive care" in Saint-Denis "following a medical evacuation directly from the Comoros", indicated the prefecture.
"His care path was secure from the start" and "the patient is still hospitalized in multi-purpose intensive care to date and has therefore not left the service since his admission," said the ARS.
"The positive result of the sequencing transmitted to the national coronavirus center in Lyon a few days ago was brought to the attention of the health authorities" overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
This waiting period will be shortened, since "analysis by DNA sequencing (is now) possible on the island of Reunion", indicates the ARS.
As of Monday, "all the samples already taken (...) corresponding to the 35 patients identified as carriers of the Covid disease and coming from Mayotte for 14 days or less" will be analyzed on site, she added.
Travel between Mayotte and Reunion authorized
Friday, the prefect of Reunion had announced that the movement, numerous, of people between Mayotte and Reunion remained authorized.
He had however specified that from Monday travelers will have to present a negative PCR test and justify "a compelling reason" to take the plane, in both directions.
People moving to the Metropolis from Monday will also have to have a negative PCR test.
Until now this screening was only required in the direction Hexagon - Reunion.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
According to figures from the ARS, since the appearance of the first case of Covid-19 on March 11, 2020, 9,446 contaminations have been identified in Réunion and 45 people have died from the disease.
As of Friday, 52 patients were still hospitalized, including three in intensive care.
