The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Government's five-day COVID-19 visitor testing strategy has hit "some bumps in the road" on islands where provision is solely reliant on the public sector clinics, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, said his ministry will work with the Ministry of Health to "enhance" the provision of rapid antigen tests through the public sector clinics on Family Islands where no private providers are present.

He added: “We are well positioned with approximately 80 healthcare providers to provide those tests easily and seamlessly. We had some bumps in the road with the government clinics, but certainly our private sector operators are filling the gap relatively well.

As for those islands without private health care providers, Mr D'Aguilar said: “We're going to have to liaise with the Ministry of Health to enhance the services that are provided by those clinics.”

“There are going to be people traveling on weekends. They're going to have to make sure that they have adequate supplies in order that they can meet that demand to provide this test.”

The Bahamas' rapid antigen testing infrastructure, established to ensure all tourists remaining in the country for five days or longer were tested for COVID-19, has assumed even greater importance after the US announced that all citizens returning from international travel must produce a negative test for the virus taken within three days prior to travelling home.

This means The Bahamas will have to provide the necessary testing to meet US requirements if Americans, who provide 82 percent of this nation's tourists, are not to be further deterred from coming here.

While The Bahamas and other Caribbean nations are continuing to lobby for an exemption from the new US testing regime, which is due to take effect from January 26, Mr D'Aguilar said this nation's network of clinics and private healthcare providers represent a "Plan B" to meet the US requirements, adding: “Thank God that we included that as a part of our protocols.”

He confirmed that the Government is “pushing” to have the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider a “special waiver” for Caribbean islands due to their small populations and relatively low levels of COVID-19 infections. They are arguing that the region should be considered as a “special grouping” of countries within the US “sphere of influence".

Mr D’Aguilar said: “We want them to consider the Caribbean as a special case that they would consider giving an exemption to. So we're going to push. I don't know whether it's going to yield any results, but we need to push.”

As for the cruise industry's return, Mr D'Aguilar said bluntly that the industry is “in the grasp of the CDC” and there is nothing The Bahamas can do aside from wait until the US health regulator decides to let vessels sail again. His remarks came just as Norwegian Cruise Line further suspended its sailings until April 30, 2021.