The Public Health Officer, Dr. Jude Gedeon, gave an overview of the situation of COVID-19 both at national and international level and provided details on global trends of COVID-19 and an update on the cases in the Seychelles. The Task Force Committee also provided an update on its work, with its Chairman, the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Didier Dogley, reporting the results of the airport exercise held on Monday 20 July, which tested the effectiveness of existing measures.
Key government and private sector stakeholders present gave a comprehensive report on the state of the country's preparation for the reopening of its borders in just over a week, including the Health Care Agency, Ministry of Tourism, Seychelles Tourism Board, SCAA, SHTA, SCCI, GETUS, SIFCO and CEPS.
An overview was given of the building blocks of the National Framework from the business community, covering business support, health certification, digitisation and support mechanisms for special projects, training and awareness raising. SIFCO provided an up-to-date overview of the security measures implemented across different denominations. The CEPS secretariat also provided information on the implementation of health regulations for its members and the results of a recent survey. The tourism related presentations highlighted the establishment of permanent structures, an update on the review and evaluation of safety opening procedures (SOPs) in tourist facilities to prepare visitors and the concept of safe travel tourism. All the presentations brought a willingness and a firm attitude in favour of reopening the borders to commercial tourism. Flights on 1 August 2020 expressed.