Coronavirus: Mauritania returns 15 Italian tourists to their country

Text by: RFI Follow

In Mauritania, 15 Italian tourists were driven home on Sunday. The country's authorities announced it on Wednesday March 4. These travelers tried to evade the containment measures put in place by the Mauritanian health authorities following the epidemic of new coronavirus.

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It was more than 90 kilometers from Nouakchott that the group of Italian tourists was intercepted. The same morning, they were still staying in a hotel in the capital, where they had to wait to be placed in confinement.

Since February, health authorities have implemented precautionary procedures. Travelers from countries at risk must be placed in solitary confinement for a fortnight. However, Italy has recorded more than 3,000 cases and more than a hundred deaths.

Arriving at Nouakchott airport, Italian tourists claim to be unaware of these health measures. They first accept confinement, then take the tangent the next morning, with their guide, in the direction of Atar, in the north of the country, to continue their tourist journey.

" They tried it , explains good player, Abdelkader ould Ahmed, spokesman for the Ministry of Health. But Mauritania applies the same protocol as most countries in the world. There is no reason to avoid it ”. Accompanied to their hotel, Italian tourists preferred to be sent home, rather than waiting for the confinement to end.

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• Mauritania
• coronavirus