The world witnessed a bleak start to 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 that quickly spiraled out of control and eventually found its way to Africa. On 18 March 2020, the Government of Mauritius confirmed the first 3 cases of the virus on the island and these relate to Mauritian nationals who had recently travelled back to the country.

In a late-night televised communique, aired on 19 March 2020, the Prime Minister of Mauritius announced that the island nation has activated its Emergency Protocol and that it will embark on a lockdown strategy as from 6:00 AM Mauritius time, Friday 20 March 2020 following the confirmation of 4 new cases of the COVID-19 during the day. The lockdown period will be for a period of 14 days and will require all government institutions and private businesses - except for essential ones including hospitals and healthcare centres, grocery stores, pharmacies and banks - to pause their activities. Companies having Work-From-Home facilities are being encouraged to make use of them.

In the same vein, effective as from 6:00 AM GMT, Thursday 19 March 2020, NO incoming passengers will be granted entry into the country for a period of 14 days.

As highlighted in our recent communique our Management Team is devoting a lot of its time and resources to minimize the impact of the pandemic crisis on our service level whilst ensuring the well-being of our employees. Our Pandemic Preparedness and Response plan has been activated and the following operational changes will be implemented with immediate effect:

Work-From-Home (WFH):

Effective as from Friday 20 March 2020, all our employees will be working from home. We would like to highlight that our WFH facilities have been tried and tested for a number of years already and that these are fully compliant with our data privacy and data security protocols.

On-site meetings:

In view of the dire circumstances, we will not be hosting any on-site meetings but your respective contact persons will still be reachable primarily by e-mail.

Suppliers:

We have Service Level Agreements with our 3rd party suppliers to ensure that they will be adhering to their forthcoming delivery and equipment servicing commitments.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis, described by many as the wrath of Mother Nature, has reminded us all how world economies are intricately linked to each other. Many businesses are being jolted out of their customary ways of operations but we remain confident that our service levels will not be severely impacted – although we foresee delays in tasks that fall beyond our control such as audit liaison, regulatory filings etc.

We will endeavor to keep you posted about the situation in Mauritius and should you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to liaise with your usual contact person or reach out to us on info@intercontinentaltrust.com