A curfew will be implemented at 6 p.m. from Thursday and for two weeks in Mayotte, the state representative on the spot announced Monday after the discovery of four cases of contamination with the South African variant of the coronavirus.
This curfew will apply between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m., said the prefect of the French island located in the Indian Ocean, Jean-François Colombet, on the 1st television channel.
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As in metropolitan France, where a 6 p.m. curfew has been in effect since last Saturday, bars, restaurants and other businesses will be closed but the delivery of food will be tolerated, he added.
"The situation we are experiencing today is undoubtedly more serious than the one we fought in the year 2020",
underlined the prefect the day after a consultation with elected officials in Mayotte, civil society and stakeholders socio-economic of the 101st French department.
Beyond the curfew, the prefect confirmed the maintenance of flights to France and Reunion, however with an obligation of a negative PCR test and isolation for seven days.
Regarding the clandestine arrivals of "kwasa-kwasa", these light boats carrying migrants, additional resources will be deployed, he announced.
"I have engaged all the means that are at my disposal to ensure that the kwasa from abroad are stopped, intercepted or turned back,"
assured Jean-François Colombet.
Nautical and aeronautical operators will participate in the detection of these boats, as will the maritime gendarmerie and the maritime affairs department.
This new turn of the screw comes after the confirmation of four cases of contamination with the South African variant of Covid-19, deemed to be more contagious, on the island.
These are two people who recently traveled to Dubai, Kenya and the Comoros, one of their relatives who remained in Mayotte and a person who allegedly returned illegally by sea from the Comoros.
On the economic front, the Prefect announced the reactivation of support systems for businesses, the maintenance of public procurement as well as that of the programming of convergence and transition contracts and European funds.