This week in Mauritius: a new variant, Mauritian population dropping and more…
New variant in Mauritius
Around 200 new cases of contamination to COVID-19 are being detected daily in Mauritius and 60% of the population has been vaccinated by now. However, the COVID-related news this week has been the detection of a new variant of interest in Mauritius. Indeed, the C.1.2 has been detected in Mauritius by a lab in South Africa. The variant seems to have originated from there. However, there is no data yet as to how this variant responds to the vaccine.
Decline in Mauritian population
Mauritius, like many countries in the world, has seen its population ageing while the number of births keep declining year by year. And this year is no different. From 2020 to 2021, the population has shrunk by 0.01%, according to a report just released by Statistics Mauritius. Today, the Mauritian population stands at around 1.2 million people. If this trend continues, it could mean that the country will open up more and more to foreign labour.
Paralympics: Brilliant performance by athlete Noemi Alphonse
She made Mauritius proud. Young athlete Normi Alphonse has managed to set four new African records during the Paralympics in Tokyo this week. She has qualified for four finals competing in T54, the 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. Overall, the time being, China has the highest number of medals of the Paralympics followed by Great Britain.
Spike in the price of construction materials
If you have a construction project, this might be interesting news to you. A 6% spike in the price of cement has been effective since the 1st of September in Mauritius. Earlier this year a Statistics Mauritius report had also indicated that other construction materials had seen a rise in price in 2021 including aluminium bars and tiles.
