Bahamas positivity rate stands at 19%
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas has staved off being included on the United Kingdom’s travel red list, despite having a higher coronavirus positivity rate than some regional red listers.
The UK revised its travel list on September 17.
The Bahamas remains on its amber list.
Another revision on the rules for international travel is expected on October 4, with the amber and green lists merging into a single “rest of the world” category.
The red list for countries considered a high risk will remain and require travelers to pay to quarantine in a hotel.
While the current red list includes 54 countries — including Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba and a host of South American countries — it notes “upcoming changes to the rest [of the] list”.
Travelers from amber list countries require unvaccinated travelers who have visited The Bahamas and return to the UK to take a coronavirus test three days prior to arrival; take another test after arriving; and complete a passenger locator form.
Vaccinated travelers from countries on the amber list must take a COVID test on or before the second day after arrival.
This is expected to change on October 4, with fully vaccinated travelers arriving from non-red-list countries no longer being required to take a PCR test prior to arriving in the UK, but still being required to take a PCR test two days after arrival.
Travelers from countries on the red list will only be allowed to enter the UK if they are British or Irish nationals or have a right to reside in the UK, and must book a “quarantine hotel package, including two COVID-19 tests”.
Similarly, a COVID test must be taken three days prior to arrival and a passenger locator form must be completed.
In a 24-hour period, the Dominican Republic confirmed 368 COVID-19 cases and processed 5,692 samples, giving the nation a positivity rate of around seven percent, though the General Directorate of Epidemiology said the latest positivity rate was 10.86 percent.
In Haiti, the Ministry of Public Health reported 107 cases in 48 hours on September 20-21, with 558 tests performed in the same period.
While there has been some criticism among local media of the accuracy of the reporting, the data gives the country a positivity rate of 19 percent — five percentage points lower than The Bahamas.
According to Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Health, there were 106 new infections on Sunday and 335 COVID tests performed, reflecting a positivity rate of 31 percent.
Cuba recorded another 6,632 cases in 24 hours and processed 42,581 samples, according to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.
This means Cuba has a COVID positivity rate of just over 14 percent.
As of Tuesday, Cuba had over 866,000 infections in the population of 11.3 million, an infection rate of seven percent of the population.
The Bahamas recorded 65 cases on Monday, according to the Ministry of Health.
A total of 343 RT-PCR tests were completed, 13 of which were repeated tests.
This reflects a positivity rate of 19 percent, a decrease over the 25 percent positivity rate on Sunday.
Sixty-seven infections were confirmed and 272 tests were completed, of which 12 were repeated tests.
