This week, we talk to Former Director of the Health Services at the Ministry of Health Dr Vasantrao Gujadhur about the sanitary situation in Mauritius and its implications on the economy. We also delve into politics and for the first time hear Dr Gujadhur’s frank views on the political situation. 

Dr Gujadhur, first you were present in our homes every day and then you disappeared…Then, we saw you again at the protest. What exactly happened? Did you go into hibernation?
No, I carried on with my work. I just kept a low profile. When you are a civil servant, your superiors and the politicians take the decisions. So at that time, I did what I had to do and I was satisfied with my work but maybe others were not satisfied. So I was not called to the forefront again and I stayed back.

Why were you asked to no longer participate in the daily briefings of the Covid committee?
I don’t know and I never asked why. I just carried on with my work.

Were you not disappointed? Your work is also to inform the population of the dangers and keep us abreast of what is going on as you did during the lockdown, isn’t it?
Of course I was disappointed! 

Were you also disappointed that you could no longer insult people by calling them ‘Cocovid’?
(Laughs) No, I wasn’t insulting them but there was information I had to get through and I did get it through. With minimal resources and minimal technology, we, at the Health Ministry, focussed on public health and precautionary measures. There was no medicine, no vaccine, no cure so the only thing I knew worked were precautionary measures.

At any cost? Even if you have to call us Cocovid?
The first thing in communication is to speak to people in a language that they understand. So I went straight to the point and I hit straight. And it worked. 

And now we are Covid free or Covid safe thanks to the prime minister, isn’t it?
You know, for me to reach this stage of no-contamination, different groups of people worked to make it happen. The greatest amount of work was done as from the second week of January by my staff in the public health. That is when we started working on Coronavirus. Public health is about protecting people. We started working on the virus situation when there were still very few cases in Wuhan. That is when we started the quarantine system. The other thing is contact tracing. We have the best system in Africa. We managed to trace more than 75% of the cases through contact tracing. And the more cases you detect, the more you prevent transmission and you decrease infection in the community. The early lockdown also helped in cutting down the chain of transmission. But for me, the biggest credit goes to the public. Confinement was very difficult, particularly for the lower strata of our society but people did cooperate and managed to protect each other. So the success of the Mauritian story is the action taken by the public.

Did the public have a choice, considering the fines and threats of imprisonment? 
Look at what happened elsewhere. People fought with the police and refused to confine. Over here, I explained to them exactly what their responsibility was, what I expected of them and what would be the end result. They are literate and intelligent so they listened, understood and sacrificed their freedom because they knew that at the end, they would gain. So they confined, we carried on with our contact tracing and with all this, we managed to contain the virus.

We still lost 10 people. Isn’t that unfortunate?
It is very unfortunate and I am very sad and saddened for the families and the country. Covid19 is a new disease which can manifest itself as mild, severe or critical. Unfortunately, there were a few severe and critical cases of which 10 passed away in spite of all the treatment given. I feel very sad about it and sympathise with the families.

“During the confinement, I was literally begging the population to stay at home with some even forgoing their daily income. Now, I have come to know that during the same confinement, companies were being awarded huge contracts. Some without even having the capital required.” 

But shouldn’t we at least stop bragging about our success story when we lost lives we perhaps should never have lost?
Covid-19 was a new disease so we had no idea how to deal with it. There was nothing in the books. And the virus was not behaving the same way with everyone. Some people were getting very sick, for others there were no symptoms…I know of cases of about 80 years old who got the disease and came out of it unscathed. Today we know it also depends on the viral load, the immune system etc. as a point of comparison, in Reunion, they lost 47 people; in the Seychelles, they lost eight lives for a much smaller population.

When you compare us to Reunion and the Seychelles, you are not exactly comparing like with like. There, they lost lives after they re-opened their borders. Here we are closed to everyone who is not prepared to quarantine for two full weeks. Do you agree with that? 
Yes. Last year, Reunion was doing better than Mauritius. There were no deaths, they had only around 400 cases, so all was well. But then foreigners started coming in with no restrictions, not even a PCR test! Today, there are many community cases and the new variant also reached their shores. In the Seychelles, it is a similar situation. No restrictions until it was too late.

But is the 14-day quarantine necessary? I mean, couldn’t it be halved without endangering the health of the population?
No, because there are cases that appear even on day 14.

Very few, surely?
Enough to justify taking the precaution. What I think we should have is a pilot project while keeping the quarantine as it is. If some patients test positive on the 14th day, they could be positive on the 10the day as well. So if we monitor this situation well and we see that this trend is confirmed, we can reduce the quarantine to 10 days.

Is anyone working on this pilot project? 
Not to my knowledge. But that is the way I see things. Many countries nowadays have reduced the quarantine to 10 days. We receive around 3,000 passengers a month. In two months, we will have tested the hypothesis on 6,000 passengers and come up with a conclusion that would perhaps allow us to reduce the quarantine to 10 days as other countries. That would make a big difference. All it takes is another PCR test at day 10. 

In the meantime, why can’t quarantiners be allowed to walk around with certain restrictions instead of being locked up 24 hours a day?
The problem is who is going to monitor those restrictions?

The Health Ministry staff. 
It’s very difficult to monitor. Check who is not wearing a mask, who is hugging who, who is not keeping a two-metre distance…All this is very difficult to keep in check.

The alternative is that tourists will go elsewhere and very soon we won’t have any foreign currency to buy commodities.
Even if we opened the borders without any restrictions, tourists will not come. There are problems in all our main tourist markets. Europeans are going to places nearby like Morocco, Spain, Sri Lanka…

“The only thing that is certain is that the vaccine will decrease the number of severe and critical cases. We have to wait for the rest.”

Why are they going to the Seychelles and the Maldives?
How many are going there?

It’s not just about numbers. The tourists going to those countries are wealthy and they have time. So they are staying longer and spending much more money than ever before. So in terms of revenue, those small numbers count.
Only about one per cent of last year’s tourists are going there. And look where the Seychelles are today? They are going from one restriction to another. Besides, for how long is Mauritius going to continue selling sea, sun and sand? This won’t do any more. Seychelles is cheaper and has more beautiful beaches. The Maldives have a whole island as a resort. This is why all the Hollywood and Bollywood stars are heading there. Even before Covid many hotels were in difficulty. Covid is just an excuse. We don’t renovate here. There are so many things we could sell other than the old sea, sun and sand.

What you are saying is there is no point opening our borders, putting our citizens’ health at risk because tourists will not come in sufficient numbers any way. So what is the government’s other plan for bringing in foreign currency? 
There is something called the Wage Assistance Scheme (WAS). That means the government is giving money, money and more money. For as long as the hotels are getting money and have to keep their staff on the payroll, they are cleaning, renovating and that’s all. What will happen in June when the scheme stops?

What do you expect them to do?
The tourist industry will take years to get back to what it was if ever it does. They should have trained their staff to do other jobs in the meantime.

What kind of jobs?
Plumbers, electricians, anything that will help channel them into jobs once the WAS stops in June. 

Is it the job of the private sector to train people or that of the government?
When the hotels are receiving the WAS, they should ensure that their people get some training.

That was never a condition for receiving the WAS. All the government asked for in return was to keep staff on the payroll.
There should be a partnership to devise a short and long-term strategy to innovate and prepare staff for the after-WAS. There are many people abroad who would like to come and retire over here. Why don’t we train the hotel staff in care for the elderly and work on a strategy to attract that growing market. A market where old people would like to escape from the dreadful Covid atmosphere and take refuge in our island. There seems to be a dearth of ideas, there is no money and very soon there will a lot of people unemployed.

How soon is this apocalypse scenario going to hit us?
It’s already here. We managed to avoid a sanitary crisis to a certain extent, except that we had a few casualties, but the economic crisis is here. 

Is this situation likely to improve with the vaccine?
You know, the vaccine is hope. Only time will tell how effective it is. It is the first family of Covid for which a vaccine has been found. There was no vaccine for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome – Ed) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). Luckily, a vaccine has been found against Covid-19. But the trial was done with certain terms of reference such as ‘is it going to decrease the severe and critical cases?’. Not ‘is it going to decrease the transmission or stop people from being infected?’. So up until now, we don’t know much. With time, we will find out more. We still don’t have any data about whether the vaccine will stop people from getting infected. The only thing that is certain is that the vaccine will decrease the number of severe and critical cases. We have to wait for the rest. We are getting reports that the vaccine is curbing some of the transmission but not all. So transmission is still possible. Besides, there are the new variants some of which are 70% more contagious. Now they are monitoring the variants. So with or without the vaccine, the precautions we must take are the same: masks, washing one’s hands and social distancing. 

During the confinement you mentioned earlier, many fishy deals were apparently taking place. Did you not suspect this scale of corruption was going on when you were at the Ministry of Health?
No. How could I? Contracts were not going through us. I am so saddened to find out what is going on. 

Is that why you participated in the protest on Saturday?
People who protested are fed up with the government and want a change. 

Are you also fed up with the government?
When you see what is going on in the country, you can’t keep quiet. I am a patriot and I love my country. I participated as a simple citizen. 

As a simple citizen, what are your demands?
I demand answers to the questions surrounding the Kistnen case, where an MSM activist close to the prime minister was assassinated. I want to know the truth. Also, during the confinement, I was literally begging the population to stay at home with some even forgoing their daily income. Now, I have come to know that during the same confinement, companies were being awarded huge contracts. Some without even having the capital required. That money could have been used to help the people who were in need of basic supply.

Do you feel betrayed?
Some people took advantage of the situation. When people were confined, others were only interested in money. I feel very sad.

You sound as if you are about to cross the line into active politics. Are you?
For me, it is more about helping the country and doing something for the next generation. I am of the view that there is a need for a new system of governance. I am not going to politics for the salary.

Towards which party is your heart currently leaning?
I have served my country at different levels. If I am asked to join a political party I will consider the possibility. Whatever decision I take, I will inform the population.