CDC considers these Caribbean countries as “very high risk” for travel
Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao added to list this week
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently updated its list of travel recommendations, with a total of 17 Caribbean countries now included in the “very high” risk level for travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Caribbean nations in the “Level 4: COVID-19 Very High” category, which were added just this week, are Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao.
While CDC advises travelers to avoid all travel to these countries, their governments have be staunch in implementing precautionary measures against the coronavirus. For one, they require passengers coming by air to arrive with a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours to seven days of their flight.
Other Caribbean countries in this designation include Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands (U.K.), and U.S. Virgin Islands.
The CDC has been continuously updating its database, and determines a country’s designation by going through COVID-19 data, including those form the World Health Organisation (WHO) and incidence rates and new cases trajectories.
Meanwhile, travelers are warned to avoid all nonessential travel to the following destinations that are under “Level 3: COVID-19 High” category, namely The Bahamas, Montserrat, Trinidad and Tobago.
Travelers at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 going to Dominica and Grenada, which are both classified as of writing as “Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate,” are also advised to avoid all nonessential travel.
Those countries that received a “Level 1” or where COVID-19 threat is low are Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Sint Eustatius. All travelers going to these countries are advised to “wear a mask, avoid crowds, stay at least 6 feet from people who are not traveling with you, wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer, and watch your health for signs of illness.”
The islands that shut their borders to most nonessential travelers are the French Caribbean islands — St. Barts, Martinique, and Guadeloupe.