The Seychelles' health authorities have noticed a sustained increase in active COVID cases but no new restriction measures were announced during a press conference on Wednesday.

According to the latest figures given by the Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon, Seychelles has recorded 821 active COVID-19 and 164 COVID-related deaths.

"These are positive cases on record but we know that not everyone comes for testing if they have mild symptoms. So, we know that the number of active cases is higher," said Gedeon.

He said that the variant that is responsible for the sustained increase in active cases is the Omicron BA.2 as 98 percent of the people tested in the month of March had the variant.

The CEO of the Health Care Agency, Dr Danny Louange, said there are 12 patients at the isolation centre at the Perseverance Family Hospital among whom one is in intensive care and in critical condition.

Despite an increase in daily admissions, all health services being offered are almost back to normal and visits from international specialists have resumed.

Gedeon called on members of the public to observe the COVID regulations in place and adhere to standard operating procedures as Seychelles sees this increase in positive cases.

He explained, "There will not be any restriction put in place at the moment, but people need to continue to do their utmost to protect themselves and others to prevent further increase in new cases."  

"To ensure that the number of positive cases is reduced, we the public must continue to observe basic preventive measures, respect all procedures put in place at workplaces, schools, places of worship and also places of leisure," said Gedeon.

He also reiterated the need for people to get vaccinated, with a third dose being encouraged to prevent severe illnesses.

81 percent of Seychelles' population vaccinated with 2 doses

Currently, 80,314 Seychellois residents have taken the two doses of the vaccine against COVID-19, which represents 81 percent of the total population, while only 36,506, or 37 percent, have had a third dose or booster shot.

Meanwhile, studies conducted by the local health authorities have also shown that the number of deaths from the Omicron variant is half the number of those recorded from the Delta variant surge.

Both were calculated over a period of three months and show that from the surge of the Delta variant during the months of May to July 2021, there were 68 deaths, compared to 36 deaths during the recent Omicron surge between December 2021 to February 2022.