Why is the world’s most vaccinated nation struggling with a huge Covid case rate? – Telegraph.co.uk

The islands remain safe for travel, despite a rise in community Covid-19 cases which has prompted tighter health measures this week, said the Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Mrs Sherin Francis, adding that since the country re-opened its borders to all countries in late March, every tourism service provider and business has adopted strict Standard Operating Procedures, (SOPs) and 587 of the 720 tourist accommodation establishments are Covid-safe certified.

We are constantly improving and stepping up the safety measures and protocols in place to protect our guests and local population alike, she said.

Murray Collins, Director of Blue Safari Seychelles, was less inclined to mince his words. The lack of in-depth media reporting and scaremongering for travelling to the Seychelles is despicable and is having a detrimental effect on the tourism and overall economy of the country, he tells Telegraph Travel, noting that the UK is a key market.

The spike in positive Covid-19 cases in the Seychelles are from those people who have not been vaccinated or those with comorbidities. The majority of news sources are simply focusing on the increase in the numbers and not the bigger picture. Given the small size of the population in the Seychelles, any increase in numbers will be reported as per capita, which proportionally produces a far higher figure compared to a country with a higher population, such as the UK. This results in a distorted overall percentage, which led to the UK government keeping the Seychelles on the red list and is nothing short of catastrophic.

Interestingly, its a very similar story in the Maldives, a competing honeymoon destination in South Asia where again, its vaccine drive has been impressive 71 per cent of the population has been jabbed once, and 35 per cent twice. It is even planning to offer foreign visitors a vaccine under a scheme that has been dubbed 3V tourism: Visit, Vaccinate, Vacation, later this year. Nevertheless, the Maldives also has a high seven-day case rate of 1,780 per 100,000 citizens; up 11 per cent on last week. In total, it has recorded 120 deaths.

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Why is the world's most vaccinated nation struggling with a huge Covid case rate? - Telegraph.co.uk