Mauritius imposes lockdown

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius: Mauritius on Wednesday went into a two-week nationwide lockdown, the second time the Indian Ocean archipelago nation has imposed such a restriction since the coronavirus pandemic began a year ago.

"We had no other choice but total containment in order to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the population," Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth announced Tuesday evening in a televised address. "This containment became necessary after the appearance of four new local positive cases of Covid-19, bringing to 14 the number of local positive cases registered since March 5."