days. the prevention and mitigation of infectious disease (coronavirus) regulations 2020 were published in the government gazette on 20 march 2020. any person who contravenes the regulations shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding mur 500 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months. the regulation was amended on 22 march 2020. on 22 march 2020, the curfew order (general notice no.512 of 2020) was issued by the government of mauritius, aimed at mitigating the spread of covid-19 in mauritius. the curfew order became effective as at 23 march 2020 at 20:00 hrs local time. any person who contravenes the curfew order, shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding mur 500 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months. on 30 march 2020, the curfew order was extended until 15 april 2020 at 20:00 hrs local time. on 16 may 2020, the covid-19 (miscellaneous provisions) bill and the quarantine bill were passed in the national assembly. the covid-19 (miscellaneous provisions) bill aims at empowering the economy, save enterprises and jobs, and build for a recovery overtime. the objectives of the quarantine bill are to prevent the resurgence of covid-19 infection, and step up the preparedness and response of the country to any future pandemic. any person who contravenes the quarantine act, shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding mur 500,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. the two bills were heavily criticized by some mauritians. the prevention of resurgence and further spread of epidemic disease (covid-19) regulations 2020 was published in the government gazette on 17 may 2020. as per the regulation, any person who does not wear protective mask and respect social and physical distancing rule shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. travel and entry restrictions on 18 march 2020, the mauritian prime minister announced that all passengers, including mauritians and foreigners, would be prohibited from entering mauritian territory for the next 15 days, which started at 6:00 gmt (10:10 am mauritian time). passengers wishing to leave mauritius would be allowed to leave. cargo airplanes and ships would also be allowed to enter the country. some mauritians who were stranded in different airports around the world were allowed to enter mauritian territory on 22 march 2020. they were required to spend 14 days in isolation at different premises provided by the government. as at 2 april 2020, it was reported that 1,000 mauritians were able to reach the island, while 1,721 mauritians in more than 40 countries were stranded abroad and 615 mauritians who live abroad expressed their wish to return. on 5 april 2020, the minister of foreign affairs reported that more than 3,000 mauritians were stranded abroad. economic on 10 march 2020, the monetary policy committee of the bank of mauritius reduced the key repo rate (krr) by 50 basis points to 2.85 per cent per annum. the decision was mainly prompted by the will to stimulate domestic economic activity. on 13 march 2020, the ministry of finance introduced several measures to assist companies with financial difficulties. the bank of mauritius introduced a support programme consisting of five key measures to assist mauritian businesses across all economic sectors. the measures included: special relief amount of mur 5 billion through commercial banks to meet cash flow and working capital requirements of economic operators directly impacted by covid-19; the bank of mauritius reduced the cash reserve ratio applicable to commercial banks from 9% to 8%. this reduction is a key measure that aims at supporting banks to further assist businesses which are being directly impacted by covid-19; commercial banks will provide a moratorium of six months on capital repayment for existing loans for economic operators that are being affected by covid-19; the bank of mauritius has put on hold the guideline on credit impairment measurement and income recognition, which has been in effect since january 2020. this decision was taken to allow commercial banks to continue supporting enterprises facing cash flow and working capital difficulties in the context of covid-19; and the bank of mauritius introduced a 2.5% two-year bank of mauritius 2020 savings bond for an amount of mur 5.0 billion from 23 march 2020. the bond will be issued at par in multiples of mur 25,000 to individuals who are residents of mauritius and up to a maximum cumulative investment amount of mur 1,000,000 per investor, whether singly or jointly, and to locally registered non-governmental organisations running on a non-profit making basis for the same maximum investment amount of mur 1,000,000. on 22 march 2020, the government of mauritius announced the wage assistance scheme to ensure that all employees in the private sector are duly paid their salary for the month of march 2020. the scheme concerns both mauritians and foreign employees working in mauritius. every business in the private sector, in respect of the month of march 2020, will be entitled to receive an amount equivalent to the 15 days' basic wage bill for all of its employees drawing a monthly basic wage of up to mur 50,000 subject to a cap of mur 12,500 of assistance per employee. further to its support programme on 13 march 2020, the bank of mauritius announced additional measures on 23 march 2020 to support households and businesses impacted financially by covid-19, and to ensure that the domestic rupee and foreign exchange markets continue to operate smoothly. these measures are as follows: mauritian households impacted by covid-19 may request their commercial banks for a moratorium of six months on capital repayments on their existing household loans as from 1 april 2020. in addition, for households earning a combined monthly basic salary of up to mur 50,000 the bank of mauritius will bear the interest payable for the period 1 april 2020 to 30 june 2020 on their outstanding household loans with commercial banks; the bank of mauritius introduced a special foreign currency (usd) line of credit targeting operators having foreign currency earnings, including smes. this line of credit shall be for an amount of usd 300 million, to be made available through commercial banks. funds will be made available to commercial banks at six-month usd libor for this facility; the bank of mauritius introduced a usd/mur swap arrangement with commercial banks for an initial amount of usd 100 million. this arrangement would enable commercial banks to support import-oriented businesses, except for the state trading corporation which will be dealing directly with the bank of mauritius for its foreign currency requirements; and during the national confinement period, fees applicable on shared atm services were waived to enable customers to have access to the atm of any bank regardless of the issuer of the card. on 31 march 2020, the government implemented a self-employed assistance scheme (seas) through the mauritius revenue authority (mra) to assist self-employed persons who have suffered a loss of revenue as a consequence of the lockdown in the fight against covid-19. additional financial support was also provided to micro, small and medium enterprises. to encourage public and enterprises to contribute to the covid-19 solidarity fund, on 1 april 2020, the ministry of finance announced that he will allow them to deduct the amount donated/contributed from their taxable income. doctors mauritians were advised not to visit hospitals for minor issues. in this respect, volunteer mauritian doctors set up a consultation service online named "medicine.mu" to give free medical opinions and advice. sports on 6 april 2020, mauritius became the first country to order the termination of all football leagues in the country for the 2019–2020 season. economic impact it is estimated that the shutdowns implemented to control the pandemic costs the mauritian economy between rs 1 billion and rs 1.3 billion a day. resulting in a total estimated cost of rs 15-20 billion or 4% of the country's gdp for the full 15 day lock-down announced by government on 20 march. on 30 march 2020, the sanitary curfew which started on 23 march at 20 00 hours was extended for two weeks up to 15 april 2020. the lockdown was extended to monday 4 may 2020, to further contain the spread of the covid-19 in the country. on 22 april, the board of air mauritius took the decision to place the company under voluntary administration after coronavirus-related disruptions made it impossible for the airline to meet its financial obligations for the foreseeable future. the pandemic had a major impact on the revenue of the company while it was seeking to change its business model to address existing financial problems.