Grenada bans travellers from India and Brazil

by Linda Straker

• No one with a 14-day travel history from India or Brazil will be allowed to enter Grenada
• Persons will have to spend relevant time in a third-party state prior to Grenada
• Several frontline tourism/hospitality sector workers refusing to be tested
• Significant number of healthcare workers hesitant to be vaccinated

As of 4 May 2021, Grenada will not permit any person with a travel history that includes a visit to India and or Brazil within the past 14 days, to enter the country.

“This means that no one with a 14-day travel history from India or Brazil will be allowed to enter Grenada. Persons will have to spend the relevant time in a third-party state that will allow them to enter,” Health Minister Nickolas Steele announced during the wrap-up segment of the weekly post-cabinet briefing on 4 May. He said that the Cabinet agreed to restrict travellers from these 2 countries on the advice of the Covid Committee and the Chief Medical Officer. Both territories are reportedly having millions infected the Covid-19 virus and thousands are dying daily from new variants.

Grenada at present has 1 active imported asymptomatic case and, since the first person was diagnosed in March 2020 the total number of infected persons is 161. There was one death.

The island’s vaccination programme is ongoing as of 12 February and to date more than 13,000 have received the first dose while more than 3,000 are fully vaccinated with both the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Health officials have openly expressed concern about the slow rate of vaccination which is provided for every citizen above the age of 18. Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Shawn Charles said that in Grenada a significant number of healthcare workers are hesitant to become inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine, while several frontline workers in the tourism/hospitality sector are refusing to be tested when they are classified as “potentially exposed.”

“These individuals are in defiance and are resisting testing,” Charles said during the briefing. He explained these workers are mainly in the housekeeping department of hotels and other accommodations that are used to quarantine persons upon arrival to the island.

Calling for more persons to get vaccinated, Dr Myanna Charles who is the Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer said, “Stop playing Russian Roulette with your lives.” She said, “Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to protect people from diseases.”

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