All persons travelling to US must now be tested and quarantined
All persons travelling to the United States (US) will now have to quarantine when they arrive.
This according to the new US President, Joe Biden who made the announcement on Thursday.
The decision, which also accompanied a new mandatory requirement of mask-wearing and social distancing on all public transportation, is aimed at improving the dire COVID-19 situation being faced in the US.
The US presently has more than nine million active positive COVID-19 cases and as at Wednesday, January 20, recorded 193,758 new cases and 4,363 deaths.
Speaking the day after being sworn into office as the 46th President of the US, President Biden said: “Yesterday, I signed an Executive Action that requires masks and social distancing on federal property. Today, we’ll be signing additional Executive Action to extend masking requirements on inner-state travel – like on trains, planes and buses.”
He added: “And in light of the new COVID variants that you’re learning about, we are instituting a new measure for individuals flying in the United States from other countries. In addition to wearing masks, everyone flying to the United States from another country will need to test before they get on that plane, before they depart, and quarantine when they arrive in America.”
CDC recommends 7-day quarantine
While the President did not specify the number of days that will be required for the now-mandatory quarantine, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a seven-day quarantine period for people arriving in the United States from nearly all countries.
In the meantime, the Biden administration has taken steps even further; also now requiring all persons above the age of two who are travelling into the US to enter with a negative COVID result. This comes into effect from Tuesday, January 26.
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Thank you…..finally
Yes it is.
However…. this adds another nail in the coffin for anyone traveling to the BVI. It adds yet ANOTHER test for US citizens to return home. That’s probably the breaking point for even the heartiest of travelers.
Goodbye tourists. Quito’s saw the writing on the wall. Hopefully we all do now. Hard times ahead my friends.
Carry on
Do US citizens have to quarantine for 14 days once they arrive in St Thomas before they board flight home?
Excellent question.
The hub for real is Puerto Rico
They already had to take a test before leaving here anyway.
that doesn’t mean they don’t also have to quarantine.
There was always a mandatory mask mandate on Federal Proper. You could not be in St Thomas Airport or Federal buildings without a mask nor on Public transportation.
Why would anyone want to go the the US anyway? The place is a violent mess and Covid is rife. I’m not going anywhere near the place.
You need to ban the bvi ppl
Cause the don’t want any American citizens to go into there island
The bvi islanders are more wicked than trump
Trump is a way better man than the bvi Islanders
Cause anyone can buy or tell lies about covid results just to have fun in the sun and run back home after abusing ones little island enjoying yourself.
Nah You stay away
Why bother asking people who may have covid to have a negative test before entering a country that’s already full of it? What the US should do is insist eveyone leaving it should have a Covid test and do the world a favor.
With over 4,000 people dying each day from covid and millions infected in the US, this new policy makes sense despite the inconvenience.
One can anticipate that once a significant percentage (75/80%) of population becomes immunized against covid by summer and community spread of the disease wanes significantly, these restrictions will probably end.
Its about saving lives be it in the US, the BVI or elsewhere.
Covid is a terrible illness. Dying from it is horrible. Ones lungs are taken over by this awful viral infection to the point one cannot breathe. The best way I can describe it is being a fish without water and worse.
So protect your selves and your families folks. Wear your masks. Socially distance and wash your hands. Seriously consider getting vaccinated once it becomes available to you. Do not die of this horrible virus.
Lastly, young people need to be mindful of their surroundings. Up to 65 % of people are asymptotic carriers and that include many younger folks. Before you drop the mask, think of mom, dad, grandma and grandpa, and everyone else who lives in your household.
By years end we should have turned the corner on combatting this virus. Meanwhile everyone needs to remain vigilant against becoming infected.
you mention 4000 people died in the US daily. What proof do you have?
people died everyday from other disease and natural Causes,so since April 2020 to present no one died on natural causes? All I’m hearing is that people died from Covid19.
Baiden is the one who call trump a racist when the stop people form china to enter the US.if you all can`t see that this was something that was fabricated to get trump out of office then you probably not paying attention,
Sorry. You have issues related to politics. I speak science. Not interested in that conversation. Have a nice day.
Funny what the politics and science say about pot. Frankly the political scene currently invalidates science in today’s world. They pay for the biased research and dissemination of information and silence research of alternative hypothesis.
If the vaxxine works, why is Joe wearing a mask, he already had the vaxxine
so people does not get affected from a carrier. One can still carry it.
Good observation and question. Here is the reason why:
There are two vaccines currently authorized for emergent use in the U.S. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. They are 95 and 94.5 % effective respectively in preventing covid.
What that means in practical medical and epidemiological terms is that there will be approximately 5% of vaccinated people who can still become infected with covid. No vaccine of this nature is 100% effective, and virus change over time and mutate making vaccines less effective.
In other words if 100 people were to be vaccinated with either vaccines, once can anticipate that 5 vaccinated persons will still become infected. The president could be among that 5%.
Additionally, community spread of covid remains widespread around the world including the U.S, and until the majority of people get vaccinated to reach herd immunity, the risk of infection to him and all others will remain high.
The fact that he is an elderly man with at least two pre-disposing factors, age and I suspect hypertension, he and other vaccinated persons need to continue to use mask and continue taking social distancing measures until community spread has significantly decrease.
It is imperative that despite vaccination, people continue to use masks and take social distancing measures until herd immunity is achieved.
The post above can be summed up simply by saying it is because no vaccine is 100% safe. You’re welcome.
Ok smart @$$. Keep your negative energy to yourself. I don’t need it or a lecture from you. Since you knew that what I said could be written as you think, why couldn’t you have stated that without going negative.
My post is not intended for smart @ases like you who knows it best. I’m not in your classroom.
Rather than finding something positive to contribute you chose to dwell in the sewer of negativity.
Check your negativity at the door if you decide to come for me, or keep it to yourself.
I can’t see tat he or she was being negative, I thought it was funny. Don’t take things too serious. Maybe it was a dig but in a way he or she was right. Your post did ramble a bit. I’m sure if you were to meet you would get on great. That’s the trouble with forums like this. It’s easier to take offense than take a joke.
This effectively ends US tourism to the BVI. Requiring a quarantine on arrival to STT or PR, which are really the only way to Bvi by air to/from the US.
I doubt the quarantine will apply to domestic travel. USVI and PR are domestic flights from mainland USA.
Tourism is struggling, and in some coutries around the globe it is not what it used to be to dead. BVI is no exception.
However, once the virus is dead or their is a cure developed for it, and the world returns to normal travel and other economic activity, the BVI has the tourism product that will reenergize the BVI and its economy. Who of you haters can her natural gifts from existing?
Why are some people so eager to speak ill of and turn the BVI and its people into beggars, while came tto and are making a good living, beyond what the would ever do in their own home.
No it will revive the use of our airport that St Thomas destabilize…yes the ferries will suffer but VIP Admin were focusing on reviving airport anyway…so it is good news…people will start flying direct to BVI…is a good thing Andrew got that direct flight from Miami to BVI. Is that flight still in operation??
Uh we already wear masks on public transportation so ??♀️
Just flew to CR and had a fabulous trip a s guess what? We didn’t catch Covid!!!! OMg ? The numbers are so inflated-just another way to try and control people.
This is the nail in the coffin for the BVI Tourism season. I want to take one week vacation. Quarantine 5 days in the BVI. then say I extended my BVI stay for a next 6 days to enjoy myself then I reach back home in the US and have to go in quarantine for another 7 days before I could return to work? that’s essentially three weeks before I can return to work. (note that I only get two weeks vacation per year)…on top of that …Quarantine in the BVI costs average $1800.00 then in the US an average $$700.00? This is madness..
LOL When the BVI did it we were the worst, evil place in the world. SMH. Bunch of morons in this place. Too little too late. 400K dead thanks to your former i***t of a leader.
Well this effectively seals the demise of tourism in the Caribbean and maybe the world as we know it. Having to quarantine on both ends of your vacation actually cancels out the vacation itself. So thanks to COVID-19, we can go nowhere. Stay put wherever you are.
@Agree above, please keep your Trump and BVIslanders comparison to yourself. We do not have hundreds of children in pens separated from their parents and the list goes on and on. There is no comparison. We are guilty of simply self preservation of a small place with one large hospital and a tiny private hospital with small staff that simply cannot take on a large outbreak of COVID. We should not have to apologise for self-preservation tactics for our people.
My life long dream and goal was to visit Africa and pay homeage to my Motherland.
Now, that dream appear to be coming to an end. Very saddened i am.
I frankly, though i was born here, do not want to spend the rest of my days stuck in the BVI and not get to see Mommy Africa.
Saddened i am. Covid, please go away.
Understand your sentiments. Don’t be sad. The pandemic will be over in a year or two, and you will be able to realize your dream of visiting Africa.
By years end, the picture will look a whole lot better than it is today.
May I suggest you prepare for that day. I would imagine that at some point countries and possible airlines will begin requiring proof of vaccination prior to enter/fly or at a minimum having to be covid tested and undergoing some sort of quarantine.
As more and more people get vaccinated, I believe those restrictions will begin to be lifted slowly.
So start preparing for your trip. Consider getting vaccinated for covid among other vaccines you may need if travelling to some African countries.
Consider Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa for a visit.
Life goes on. Cheer up. Start packing your bags covid or not covid. The motherland will be all welcoming with open arms.
Don’t worry. Africa is a s**t hole.
Because the only pictures they show you is what you have come to believe. However, go search the internet and look again for yourself. The cities are modern, prosperous, beautiful homes and the people better dressed than you. Everywhere, America, Europe, BVI, all has its poor areas. That is expected. Go check Africa again.
All the while I thought was happening, I never know persons could a go there without being tested etc. Wow, no wonder the great country have so many cases.
Below is the mandate from the US CDC. The quarantine is only “recommended” if you participate in “high risk” activities. Since boaters are limited to their boats for a 4 day minimum, and since everyone is aware of risks (including local business owners), I’m not sure this has a major effect on those wanting to visit.
From the CDC:
After you travel, continue to take steps to protect others from getting sick. Wear a mask when outside your home, stay at least 6 feet from people who are not from your household, wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer, and watch your health for signs of illness.
If you participated in higher-risk activities, get tested 3–5 days after travel AND stay home for 7 days after travel.
If you don’t get tested, it’s safest to stay home for 10 days.
If you had a known exposure to COVID-19 while traveling, delay travel, quarantine from other people, get tested, and monitor your health.
@islandguy – this is correct. The CDC mandates self-quarantine so you can still visit once you do what is required.
https://youtu.be/OMMO1n3C1gM
Better safe than sorry ,……
Biden is the best! Trump an a**. Totally make sure no one but the right people prosper from the CCP pandemic at any cost. Biden/CCP/Dems forever. Learn to love it… socialism and totalitarianism all the way. CCP
In practice, I don’t see how this will work. The US federal government doesn’t have the authority or power to force quarantines on individuals, so in practice it will be left up to the states, just like everything else Covid-related.
You just answered your own question. So why did you bother asking?
“rights” people are so abstract in their thinking and actions.
They feel they have the right not to be safe and protect the lives of others at the same time in their presence. How insane is that?
Yet, the majority of them, using false dogma along the way, thinks and supports the Shooting down of unarmed Black men in the streets in front of their family and children.
They have no outrage or human rights concern about that. If fact, they embrace the murder of innocent Black people.
I will take several years, after the plague is controlled, for tourism to make a come back. Whoever thinks that people will travel ( within the next couple of years ) as much as before needs to consider an anti-doping test. Aviation and hospitality are going to continue to suffer. Those industries will have to entice people, with great offers, in order to make them go back to the old ways.