Coronavirus: Mauritius confirms first 3 cases, Africa's death toll hits 17

The government of the country announced this in a statement on Thursday, March 19, 2020.

Two of the three cases involve cruise ship workers aged 21 and 25, while the third is a traveller from the UK aged 59.

"It concerns three Mauritian nationals who have travelled back to Mauritius recently aged 21, 25 and 59 years respectively. Two have worked on cruise ships and one is from the United Kingdom," the statement said.

It added that the government was tracing all the people the British traveller had come into contact with.

The government said it has, hence, closed all schools and borders points of the Indian Ocean island nation. It has also banned commercial flights and tourists for the next two weeks, beginning on Thursday, March 19.

So far, 33 countries in Africa have confirmed cases of that pandemic coronavirus (Covid 19).

The death toll in the continent has reached seventeen according to figures by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Six each in Algeria and Egypt, Two in Morocco and the others in Sudan and Burkina Faso.