St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley is announcing a change to travel protocols that will discontinue the CARICOM Travel Bubble.
In a report from Barbados Monday morning (November 2) Mottley had this to say:
“The Government of Barbados has its first responsibility to protect the lives and livelihoods of its people. Because of that … whether it is from the high-risk countries … or whether it is a medium or low risk … we will require all persons to have a PCR test before entering Barbados or to get one at the airport upon entry. And secondly that then they will be subject to the second test within four to five days after that first test.”
The Barbados Prime Minister’s announcement Sunday (November 1) comes in the wake of the Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s statement that the CARICOM Travel Bubble had burst.
“… St Lucia within the last week I am told would have had over 34 new cases of COVID. So it’s evident that St Lucia now has community spread and what that has done is now forced a change within the travel arrangement in CARICOM so whereas in a few weeks ago we agreed on a CARICOM travel bubble, the bubble has burst!” Mr. Browne said on Pointe FM Saturday.
On September 18, a CARICOM Bubble with Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines was announced.
Citizens, of the countries in the COVID-19 “Travel Bubble”, were expected to be allowed to enter without required COVID-19 tests and a quarantine period.
St. Kitts did not implement the measure and kept its borders closed to commercial flights until Saturday (October 31). Local officials are said to be monitoring the situation and an announcement is anticipated shortly.
