Port Louis, Mauritius 2 June 2003 Sapa-AP
Air Mauritius will continue its suspension of flights to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong until the end of the month as it assesses the threat of SARS in the region, the spokesman for the national airline said Monday.
Joel Toussaint said Air Mauritius is monitoring the situation closely and is aware that the World Health Organization lifted a SARS travel warning for Hong Kong on May 23 and that an annoucement on Singapore is expected soon.
"But these decisions concern health issues. Airline companies also have to take into account commercial interests," he said, adding that the airline had lost 8 million rupees a week (US$270,000) since suspending the flights on April 4.
Deputy Prime Minister Paul Berenger said Saturday that no cases of the serious acute respiratory syndrome have been reported on the Indian Ocean island nation. But he advised local businessmen seeking to recruit manpower to turn to India and Sri Lanka instead of China since the government has suspended all recruitment from China where SARS was first detected and which has recorded the highest number of cases of the pneumonia-like illness.