CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
The Antigua and Barbuda government
is re-thinking its strategy in
allowing persons entry into the island
after some visitors have threatened to
take legal action over the requirements
for a coronavirus (Covid-19) test on
arrival on the island.
Prime Minister Gaston
Browne, speaking
on his radio program
recently said that some
tourists were objecting
to the tests.
Antigua and Barbuda was among
early Caribbean countries that reopened
their international airports after
closing down the facilities as part of
the facilities to stem the spread of the
virus.
He said some guests are saying you
don’t have the right to put anything
in my nose, adding that some tourists
were arguing that both the tests and
the hesitance of health officials to allow
them to leave the country after they
tested positive in a violation of their
rights.
He said the government has been
made aware by one visitor of international
health regulations “which she
reckons precludes countries from doing
these invasive swabs”.
Browne told radio listeners that two
foreign nations had accused health
authorities of violating their constitutional
rights, “their right to travel (and)
holding them against their will.”
Barbados
The Barbados government announced
the lifting of a curfew put in place since
March to stem the spread of the coronavirus
(COVID-19) as the island reopens
its borders to accommodate regional
and international flights.
Speaking at a news
conference, Prime
Minister Mia Mottley
said the lifting of the
curfew would take
effect from July 1 and that the airport
will resume normal operations when
an Air Canada flight is due to arrive on
July 12.
She told reporters it would be followed
by a British Airways flight on
July 18, JetBlue on July 25 and Virgin
Atlantic on Aug. 1.
Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines
(CAL) is to arrive sometime in mid-
July.
Mottley said tourism is Barbados’
“core business” and as a result, the
island could not keep its borders closed
indefinitely, noting that during the
meetings with the social partnership
recently there had been no objections to
the reopening the island’s borders.
Minister of Tourism and International
Transport, Kerrie Symmonds said
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Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Alphonso Browne addresses the United Nations General Assembly
at U.N. headquarters. Associated Press / Jason DeCrow
that several protocols would be put in
place before visitors could enter Barbados,
declaring that the safety of airport
and of the population was of paramount
importance.
He said travelers from outside the
Caribbean would have to take a COVID-
19 PCR Antigen test 72 hours before
they were scheduled to come to Barbados.
The test will have to be accredited
by a laboratory approved by the Ministry
of Health. Passengers from within
the Caribbean will have to take a test
one week prior to departure.
Caribbean
Caribbean hotel, tourism and health
officials have unveiled a new initiative
they say will help safeguard the health
of travelers and employees within the
tourism sector.
The COVID-19 Caribbean
Tourism Task
Force said the comprehensive
health safety
guidelines, supported
by an aggressive training schedule, are
aimed at reaching thousands of the
region’s tourism employees in the coming
weeks and months.
It said that the initial set of guidelines
includes detailed checklists backed by
health safety training for various tourism
industry sectors, including ground
transportation, accommodation providers,
food and beverage, and attractions.
General health safety protocols have
also been created and will be supported
with training delivered by the Trinidadbased
Caribbean Public Health Agency
(CARPHA) to a wide-cross section of
employees and owners in the tourism
industry.
Companies in the region which participate
in the training will be recognized
and accommodation providers
which also join CARPHA’s online Tourism
Health Information System will be
eligible to receive the Caribbean Travel
Health Assurance Stamp, adding further
assurance to travelers about their
commitment to health safety.
Guyana
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority
(GCCA) has delayed the phased opening
of Cheddi Jagan International airport,
which was scheduled to reopen its runaway
last week to international commercial
flights.
However, in a statement,
the GCCA said
it consulted with the
Ministry of Public
Health and has made
some adjustments to its reopening.
Guyana Civil Aviation Authority
Director General Egbert Field said the
authority and the National COVID-19
Task Force consider the health of Guyanese
and the nation as a top priority
and that triggered the delay of the reopening
plan.
The airports, under the current
phase, will continue to allow limited
repatriation flights, outgoing flights,
cargo flights, medivac flights and special
authorized flights.
Phase two, which is expected to allow
additional reparation and commercial
flights, will now commence on Aug. 1.
Grenada
Grenada Minister of Tourism, Dr.
Claris Modeste-Curwen has called on
regional countries to take another look
at taxes on air travel within the region
as Caribbean countries begin to resume
tourism activity as part of efforts to
rebuild their economies that have been
badly hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic.
Modeste-Curwen
said the Caribbean
market must be seen as
critical to the rebuilding
process, urging a
review of existing taxes on intra-Caribbean
travel and the impact they are
having on the desire for travel among
the Caribbean people.
The tourism minister said the Caribbean
had done an “exceedingly great
job” in containing the virus, enhancing
its appeal as a target market for sister
islands.
He said the Caribbean has been a
source market for Grenada, especially
in certain seasonal activities, such as
carnival.
Continued on Page 12
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