The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Heads of Government have seen the remarks made by the Head of the London Heathrow Airport today, 29 September 2020 warning that the UK Aviation could suffer the same fate as London Docks if air travel cannot resume in volume before a Covid vaccine is found.
John Holland-Kaye, London Heathrow Chief Executive Officer, in a conversation with Travel Weekly warned of a catastrophe for UK Aviation, including the potential demise of British Airways, if air travel is not resumed. His recommendation and solution are for the consideration of testing at the UK airports to ensure that all travellers are Covid free and to allow such persons freedom to travel.
While the OECS Authority is concerned about the prediction, we are heartened by the call which strengthens our own efforts internationally in seeking the establishment of PCR testing facilities at airports to ensure that every traveller is tested, and only persons who are deemed to be Covid-free will be allowed to board and travel. We have been lobbying the governments of our major tourism source markets as well as the major airlines with flights to the Caribbean to work with us in the establishment of a rigorous testing regime to facilitate the reopening of safe air travel to the Caribbean.
Discussions with an international company should be concluded this week and we expect that this will result in the establishment of PCR testing facilities at all source airports as well as cruise and ferry ports to the Caribbean. This will ensure that only travellers who are Covid-free are allowed to board and will remove the need for quarantine on arrival. We are seeking to move quickly to facilitate safer travel for the tourism high season in October. The Anglophone Caribbean has had a strong record of effective management of the pandemic to date with among the lowest infection rates in the world and are seeking to address the severe economic contraction in our tourism-dependent economies while ensuring the protection of our people as well as our visitors.
The Heads of Government of the OECS are, therefore, issuing an urgent call to the governments and other stakeholders of the tourism source markets to work with us in putting this solution in place and to demonstrate the viability of this approach to the safe restoration of the travel and tourism industry.
OECS
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It can take up to 14 days for the virus to show up hence the reason for further quarantine. It is wrong and dangerous to assume a negative test means you are virus free. Read up on Coronavirus and educate yourselves
It can take up to 14 days for the virus to show itself.
It is better to be safe than sorry. Yes we need the economy and for things to get back to some kind of normality but not at the cost of losing more lives unnecessarily. Grenada is one of the few countries dealing with the coronavirus exceptionally well. Please let us continue to do so. Enough lives has been lost already we do not want any more deaths from covid 19 which can be avoided if we continue to test trace and quarantine.
It can take up to 14 days for the virus to show itself, hence the 14 days quarantine.
It is better to be safe than sorry. Yes we need the economy and for things to get back to some kind of normality but not at the cost of losing more lives unnecessarily. Grenada is one of the few countries dealing with the coronavirus exceptionally well. Please let us continue to do so. Enough lives has been lost already we do not want any more deaths from covid 19 which can be avoided if we continue to test trace and quarantine.
This is the obvious solution and needs to be accepted by everyone and every country.
If a person tested negative before they left and negative again on arrival then that person should not be subjected to any further quarantine or restriction of movement.
This is the only way forward if tourism and all associated businesses are going to survive.
I don’t ever comment, but Gary Clifford is 100% right.