by Linda Straker
- Effective Saturday, 21 March at 23:59 pm, the USA is added to travel advisory
- The USA, especially New York where thousands of Grenadians reside, has continuously reported increasing cases
As of 21 March 2020, Grenada’s ports of entry will not accept passengers from the United States of America who are not Grenadian nationals or residents, as part of measures to combat Covid-19.
This was announced in a travel advisory published on the Ministry of Health Facebook page on 19 March 2020. As of 18 March, there are no positive Covid-19 cases in Grenada: 18 tests were conducted at the lab of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
“Effective Saturday, 21 March at 23:59 pm the USA is added to this advisory as per all the stipulations outlined,” said the release which also said that, “Effective Friday, 20 March at 23:59 pm if you are not a Grenadian national, and in the last 14 days you have been to Iran, South Korea, China or anywhere in Europe including the UK, you will be refused entry into the country.
Grenadian nationals and non-nationals alike arriving from any other destinations outside of the list will be screened upon entry and self-quarantined for 14 days. “If you are a Grenadian national or resident you will be self-quarantined for a period of 14 days upon arrival into Grenada,” the advisory said.
Before disembarking, every passenger will be required to complete a declaration form of his/her health status and will be required to check in daily with the Ministry of Health. Any person who becomes symptomatic will be quarantined or isolated.
Covid-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019, but as of March 2020, Europe has become the epicentre of the respiratory-related infection which has infected thousands and caused the death of thousands.
The USA, especially New York where thousands of Grenadians reside, has continuously reported increasing cases. The Covid-19 death toll in New York City has hit 22, with 3,615 positive cases of coronavirus in New York City, more than half of the state’s total. The hardest-hit boroughs are Brooklyn, with 1,030 cases; Queens with 980 cases, and Manhattan with 976 patients. Rounding out the cases are 436 in the Bronx and 165 on Staten Island. On Thursday morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that more than half of the total positive cases are in New York City.
We chartered sailboat out of Grenada leaving May 1st. This really sucks for us. That being said, anyone who has a problem with this is an idiot. My thoughts are with the people of Grenada and I just hope they have shut their borders and time to be spared from the insanity that’s going on in the United States.
People coming from countries where there is widespread cases even if they are asymptomatic has to be quarantined because of the length of incubation this virus has. I am very impressed with the precautions the government of Grenada is taking to protect its people. Stay safe my people and call on God for his protection and provisions in these times of uncertainty.