We wrote just last week that the Bahamas had decided to ban U.S. citizens from entering due to increased cases of coronavirus that were traced back to U.S. tourists who were visiting the islands. At the time, we wrote that Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis’ orders stated that, effective July 22, he would close all airports and seaports to (most) U.S. travelers. However they would continue to welcome tourists from Canada, the U.K. and the E.U., as long as they submitted to its health-screening measures and testing provisions.
Just a couple of days later, they apparently changed their mind.
New orders have been announced that travelers from all countries, including the U.S., upon arriving on “an international commercial air travel” must, at their own expense, submit to quarantine at a government facility for 14 days and undergo an RT-PCR COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test at the end of the 14-day period, also at the visitor’s expense.
“The provisions governing the admission of foreign visitors to The Bahamas were changed in order to create a uniform standard of treatment for all Visitors to The Bahamas during this Pandemic Emergency,” read the statement. “The creation of a uniform framework means that there is no longer any need to create any list of countries from which The Bahamas would accept commercial flights; which list thereby excluded other countries.”
It was noted in the Nassau Guardian that the new orders have no provisions for those who enter the country via pleasure crafts or private or chartered aircraft. So the same loophole seems to exist…if you have money, you apparently can still go to the Bahamas without quarantine.
Meanwhile, American Airlines had plans to resume their service to Nassau, Georgetown and Eleuthera but suspended flights as of July 22, due to the Prime Minister’s original decree. An AA spokesperson told the Miami Herald that resumption of its routes to The Bahamas have been rescheduled to September and they will continue with that plan.
PC: Needpix.com
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
5 comments
A Bahamian “government facility” lol. What do you think that will be like?!
If it’s anything like the facilities being offered by the governments in other countries with the same situation, it can run the gamut from a hotel to army barracks.
The Bahamian government is barely functional as it is. I’d imagine this would only be a 1-star experience!
With a 2 week quarantine, that’s pretty much still a ban.
I guess it depends on how much vacation time you have 😉 But yeah, it puts them in the same category as Hawaii and all the other places that require a quarantine…unless you have the money to come in a different way. Which is just…dumb. Rich people can get COVID just as easily LOL