BVI News

Quarantine for unvaccinated travellers increase from 4 to 7 days

Scenes at the TB Lettsome International Airport on Day 2 of the reopening of local borders to visitors.

The government has decided that the quarantine period for unvaccinated travellers entering the territory will be increased from four days to seven days.

During a national broadcast Friday morning, Health Minister Carvin Malone said if people are travelling in mixed groups with some individuals unvaccinated, the entire party will be treated as unvaccinated and will be required to quarantine for seven days upon arrival.

“In the case of persons who are only partially vaccinated — meaning that they have received only one dose of a two-dose vaccine or whose final vaccine dose was administered less than two weeks before arrival in the territory — a four-day quarantine period will be required with the PCR testing administered on arrival and on Day 4,” the minister stated.

He said Cabinet made these decisions at its latest meeting after considering ‘the wish for visitors to enter’ with ‘the need to mitigate the risk of COVID infections’ arising from increased travel.

Travel ban

Malone said Cabinet also decided to amend the territory’s travel ban to only apply to travellers from Brazil and India. Exempted persons permitted to enter from these two counties are required to quarantine for 14 days.

Full vaccinated travellers from all other countries will require a BVI BVI Gateway Travel Certificate for $105 — down from $175. They must also be fully vaccinated and are required to produce a negative PCR result from a test taken three to five days before arrival.

“Where fully vaccinated persons are travelling with one or more unvaccinated child (aged 5-17) … [these children] will be tested on arrival. Children will be released from quarantine together with their parents or guardians once the test results for the entire group are negative but must remain within their family bubble. Unvaccinated children will be subjected to a further test on Day 4,” Malone said.

Where home quarantine applies

A fully vaccinated traveller may be approved for home quarantine in a residence where all adult occupants are fully vaccinated once the traveller or travelling party is provided with a separate room/suite for themselves.

Come May 15, fully vaccinated persons who have been present in the Virgin Islands for more than 14 consecutive days and travel to the USVI, St Martin, or Puerto Rico for a period not longer than 24 hours are exempted from quarantine and the COVID-19 test upon re-entering the territory.

However, day-trippers to these neighbouring jurisdictions would be required to take a PCR test seven days after returning to the territory, Malone stated.

These day-trippers must apply for entry through BVI Gateway at a reduced fee of $70.

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71 Comments

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  1. weird flex says:

    This is typical – some stuff makes sense, some not, make certain folks lives easier, others more difficult.

    New BVI slogan is: “tease you over with a juicy apple and the kick you in the nuts”

    Like 53
    Dislike 3
    • Wayne DEAD says:

      Well said. Oh when election time come around we will remember they turn the pandemic into a MONEY MAKING SCHEME. The fees just to go visit your family in the USVI is ridiculous.

      Like 27
      Dislike 7
    • FINALLY says:

      Good move VIP Government.

      Like 3
      Dislike 20
    • Malone says:

      Please explain your thought process or lack thereof, that a yacht or villa renter has to test upon arrival even when supplying a negative Covid test and vaccination certificate and a day tripper or cruise ship passenger has to do nothing. This is nothing but a blatant attempt to destroy the yacht and Villa business and a total attempt to destroy local tourism. Please move yourself out of your third world thinking.

  2. Well says:

    Well it appears that with the coming of ships, the money has made Foy and Malone change their archaic policy. So vaccinated people now do not have to test upon arrival or quarantine.

    Like 13
    Dislike 7
    • Wrong says:

      Testing and quarantine still required for visitors but only until test results are obtained. However cruise ship passengers need nothing and all locals going to and from the USVI and Puerto Rico need nothing. You can’t make this shit up. The brainless are leading the sheep.

      Like 48
      Dislike 30
      • X says:

        Read again, very slowly this time.

        • Tim says:

          He is right. The article is not accurate. Read the official Gov statement.

          Everyone will be required for Rapid Testing.

          (not sure about the ships but logic says they can do it on the ship as well)

          Like 4
          Dislike 3
          • @Tim says:

            Read the official announcement. Nothing about moving to rapid test. RT-PCR test is not a rapid test.

      • Cruise ship passengers says:

        Where is the cruise ship policy? You got them? You seem to be talking like you know. Cause those of us in the industry certainly would like a copy.

    • @Well says:

      you should read more, they need to test before arrival and on arrivaland quarantine for day zero tillnegative test result

      Like 5
      Dislike 3
      • @@Well says:

        You need to read more and comprehend. Do cruise ship passengers test upon arrival? No. Do day visitors going to St Thomas shopping and bringing back Covid require testing? No. Only visitors staying on island require testing. I guess you can’t being Covid from the USVI or from another stop on a cruise ship. You are as ignorant as the people setting these rules.

        Like 17
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        • Thinker says:

          A more careful reading would uncover the fact that VACCINTED day trippers will stil be tested seven days later.

    • JohnnyFive says:

      Especially absurd because most European countries and the US FDA have deemed the vaccines completely ineffective and unsafe. (The vaccines cause more deaths than the CO virus they are supposed to prevent). BVI policy makes less sense than any I’ve seen worldwide.

      Like 13
      Dislike 39
  3. What??? says:

    Why would the quarantine period increase with more of the population being vaccinated??? Isn’t the risk of contraction now even lower? I’m not an anti-vaxer but I can’t help but ask, is this really about health risk or control? If it is our intent to welcome more visitors why would you increase the # of days?

    Like 31
    Dislike 3
  4. Mo**n says:

    Malone is a m***n. Cruise ship passengers can get off the ship with no testing and locals can go and come to the USVI and PR without any testing but yacht and Villa renters have to be tested and remain in quarantine until they get their test results. This is a a total attack on local tourism. He is not fit to hold a position that requires brain matter. The downfall of the BVI continues. BVIHaters.

    Like 47
    Dislike 4
    • Dr says:

      After that news I sailing or moving my yacht and done with the with the BVI. Country’s loose business and many times it doesn’t come back. USVI is booming no one getting sick regardless what your fake news tells you.

  5. Keeping a close eye says:

    If the 4 days was working why change it to 7 ,stop pressuring people to jump over a cliff, come better Dan dat leaders

    Like 25
    Dislike 7
  6. Question says:

    7-day quarantine for unvaccinated tourists/residents effective today or May 15?

  7. Vaccinated says:

    As far as i’m concerned they should increase quarantine for unvaccinated people to 6 months. Now just tell the unvaxxed locals to stay at home permanently and bingo – problem solved!

    Like 26
    Dislike 26
  8. Portal says:

    So day trippers and cruise ship passengers are free to come and go, no portal requirement, no fees and no testing. But a vacationer that is going to lift tourism, spend money still has to be tested, pay portal fees, use a quarantine taxi and get raped being overcharged and this is what the great Malone came up with? The man should be tar and feathered and set adrift out to sea.

    Like 30
    Dislike 2
    • @portal says:

      do any of you anti government idiots actually read? you need to get tested before you leave and you need to register on the portal before going to Set/PR/SXMand then get tested 7 days later. Back to school

      Like 7
      Dislike 6
  9. 2cents says:

    I can’t even follow this —they need a flow chart.

    Like 19
  10. Seems unfair says:

    I cannot take the vaccines for medical reasons, but I have tested positive for the antibodies. Own a boat in BVI and visit/bring guests regularly. Unfortunately, this means BVI is a no-go for me and we will be looking at taking our boat out of the territory. Seems like a step backwards to me. Very sad.

    Like 18
    Dislike 3
  11. Tourist says:

    Alright, I’m calling The Moorings to cancel my May trip. We’re vaccinated but can’t spend the whole trip testing the kids. Good luck to everyone down there and I hope there is still a BVI left to visit once we’re allowed to!

    Like 28
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    • Tim says:

      read carefully … its not as bad as you think.

      You and the kids will be tested using RT-PCR. You be getting results on the spot (the idea of rapid testing).
      Once cleared, everyone can move on …

      Kids on day 4 will need to be tested again.

      here is the thing: If you are coming for a week to the BVI and need to go back to the US … you need this testing for everyone as the US will require a test.

      yes, if you are staying longer, this is still annoying.

      Like 2
      Dislike 6
  12. Recent Charter Captain says:

    We recently returned from the BVI on a charter. I must say that it was very inconvenient to return multiple times to Road town to be tested. We had to test to get to the BVI, tested at the airport when we arrived, tested on day 4 and then we had to test 3 days before leaving back to the US. Because of all of the tests/quarantine, we extended our charter from a 7 day to 10 day. Many of the restaurants were closed on the various islands that we visited. Had we been able to show that our whole crew had been vaccinated since January and been able to skip the quarantine, local restaurants, stores and bars would have had more of our $$$. We have been coming to the BVI for over 10 years. After this mess, I have now booked time in Italy for 2022. I think that it will be a while, before I come back to the BVI. There are many other options out there for would be tourists. Your reputation as the “sailing capital of the world” has been damaged and may take a while to return. Best of luck to you.

    Like 44
    Dislike 2
    • @ Recent Charter Captain says:

      Italy? Really? What b/S as you aren’t allowed to move around & everything is closed there!!!!!

      Like 2
      Dislike 5
      • Recent Charter Captain says:

        I just saw your comment. Maybe you glossed over the date that I mentioned for my trip to Italy – 2022. Yes there are restrictions there right now, but I am booked there for July of 2022. That is a whole year away and by then things should be back to normal.

  13. BVINews says:

    BVINews stop messing around with the thumbs up and down buttons. Minister Do-little needs to hear from the people. He is a blight on the Territory.

    Like 17
    Dislike 1
  14. @Portal says:

    And all because the lovely people of the BVI don’t want to get vaccinated, so we can’t open up properly for tourism and travel. Instead we have this compromise situation that nobody’s really happy with. And those day 0 tests are going to take days to get back from the Lab, because they can’t cope, so quarantine periods are not going to reduce in reality 🙁
    Carry On.

    Like 18
    Dislike 8
  15. Lol says:

    Enjoy u all time 2023 …party line voting ..all the way

    • Lol says:

      Choose your leaders with wisdom, forethought, reasoning and after researching the candidates Lol.

      Further, having a degree or a Phd. is not an indication of one being a good leader or manager.

      We now have a party in power whose members all have education ranging from degrees to Phd’s, yet the management of the country and its various departments are to be rigorously questioned.

      Most critical of those are the department of education, tourism and the finance portfolio. There is mounting dissatisfaction surrounding the management of all three critical pillars that determine a peoples’ progress.

      Hence, it would seem that sensible analysis of all candidates should be the work of any and all voters.

      Voting party lines and for “who you like” is a great  way to ensure that progress remains minimal because the better and selfless minds did not get a chance to do the job.

      A fool can be elected simply because he is liked or belongs to a particular party. To be led by a fool is to be led by an opportunist who controls the fool.

      I am a full blooded BVIslander, and a very proud one. Have lived long enough to see the retrogression, degradation, mal-management of our political system, the government and its coffers.

      There are good, politically smart and astute, honest BVIslanders among us. Will they come forward? Unlikely. Will the voting populace increase its political intelligence? Highly unlikely anytime soon.  Hence, expect to continue living in feces filled streets, poor sanitation and infrastructure, a lapsing and dying education system, roads that destroy a vehicle in six months, and the list goes on and on.  

      Therefore, we must do our homework before casting an X. Or, we could next elect a coward, a thief [some say we have been electing those all along], a liar or a tyrant. To be led by a tyrant is to sell  yourself and those you love into slavery.

      Well, looking at the minimum wage from 1950 to present, we have to an extent, been sold into slavery already. In the midst of economic boom and growth, there was a time when the people went twenty plus years without a raise in salaries or minimum wage, but they continue to vote party line..

      Today, those low to slave salaries and minimum wage are still standing agreements between employers, all foriegn investors 1950 to present, domestic now live under the same umbrella, and government to keep them suppressed and profits high…. Those were the compromises and standard way of doing business of the Lavity and O’neal’s government for decades.

      We are living today the results of voting party line since 1950. Think about that.

  16. cut and paste says:

    what will be tomorrow.. 10 days. like them does get up in the morning an say how we can vex the people. no justification for action and changing and changing so unpredictable. how can people make plans.

    Like 14
    Dislike 1
  17. Help says:

    Day by day policy. No plans or listening to consultants or the people, just day by day changes. No plan!

    Like 10
    Dislike 3
    • Currency says:

      To be fair to the Government, the policy in the early days was based on a certain proportion of the population taking the vaccine. That has clearly not happened and so the policy had to change to stay current and relevant. The people do have a country to run and an economy to support regardless of all of our Monday night couch quarterbacking.

      Like 3
      Dislike 3
  18. Smh says:

    We going backward.

    Like 9
    Dislike 3
  19. Traveller says:

    Please please Mr. Minister! Every time I travel and try to get back in is stress with the portal. Most times u can’t even get to upload your covid test results and you have to be trying to find someone who u know to call them.
    It is very stressful. Sometimes up to the night before u leave u still don’t get approval even though you have done all u are asked to do.
    With more people coming in I don’t know what is going to happen.
    Those people dealing with the portal are not doing a good job. It’s frustrating!!

    Like 24
  20. Tim says:

    People of the BVI, either vaccinate or lose the income of those who didn’t vaccinated either ..

    sounds like a fair lose: lose proposition.

    you don’t want to be vaccinated yet upset that the Gov is keep out of the islands the same people like you ?

    ironic , no?

    Like 11
    Dislike 9
  21. Jeff Kidd says:

    We are chartering a boat for 10 days June 1. This is our 6th trip to your islands. 3 adults are fully vaccinated, 3 are not. So now we have to spend 7 of our 10 days tired to a ball? Even though no one on the boat tests positive? We can’t shop, can’t eat in restaurants, can’t go to bars, day 8 it’s back for a test for when we leave and day 9 is spent at the marina to catch the only ferry that is at 8 am on day 10. That’s zero days on shore and we can’t get out 14,000.00 back. WHY WOULD WE EVER COME BACK? HOW ARE WE GOING TO HELP YOUR ECONOMY?

    Like 26
    Dislike 1
    • @ Jeff Kidd says:

      Well you are lucky you were on a boat. You could go to the beach & swim & snorkel in the ocean. That’s a ;ot more fun than people staying in rental villas or hotels!!!!!

      Like 4
      Dislike 1
      • Needs Clarification says:

        I have assumed that, if staying in a house on the beach, one can swim and snorkel. That needs to be clarified.

      • Jeff Kidd says:

        I didn’t think we can touch the beach. Isn’t that 1 reason we are given geotracking bracelets and a yellow quarantine flag to be flown from the halyard. What is the rule?

        • @Jeff Kidd says:

          Jeff, we just returned and it was madness. All of the testing that you have to do. We were all vaccinated as well and still had to jump through the hoops of testing before arriving, testing at the airport on Beef Island, getting the bracelet, the tracking device. When we arrived to the Moorings, we couldn’t walk around the moorings base/restaurants/pool. We were marched, literally past all of this through a gate on A dock and to our boat. We were told that we could not come back through the gate. So we then ordered dinner to be brought to us. They were supposed to have provisioned our boat. That didn’t happen until about 8:00 PM. You do have the 19 different anchorages, but get used to cooking aboard your boat and snorkeling around your boat as well as the occasional trip back to Road Town to get COVID tested. Also, when you are tested on day four, which is really day 5 of your trip, you really don’t get the results back until day 6 maybe 7. We ended up extending our stay because of all of the restrictions. This then forced us to have a 4 test in order to get back to the US. Also, you will find that many of the restaurants and shops are closed. One thing that was nice was the solitude. There were never more than 2 – 3 boats at the more popular anchorages. Finding mooring balls is cake as you could arrive even late in the day and take your pick. I think that we are done with the BVI for a while. We are looking at booking elsewhere in the coming years. Good luck to you.

  22. Wow says:

    If at least the test was quick, we had to spend a1hr/1/2 this week just to recover our credit card, to be told you have to wait longer we run out of paper for the machine. So 1 more hour, tha 2 hres 1/2 of my vacation just for a CREDIT CARD receipt. sorry but NO

    • What says:

      Really, this is crazy! Why would the Government office run out of credit card paper? You got to be joking!!! Are we Third World country? No pride in our work to ensure there is a stock of paper on hand? No man no…..

      Like 11
      • Thinker says:

        Well, I can remember a few years ago when we ran out of Customs entry forms for a few months! How does THAT happen?

      • Tim says:

        cant answer all your question but can answer this:

        yes, the BVI is a 3rd world country in many different aspects…

        just listen to the explanation on why the vaccinate is not good for you and you will understand where you live …

        Like 10
        Dislike 3
  23. BVI Islander says:

    BVI Government we coming for you at the polls, keep oppressing the people, have your own interest at heart, and not for the VI. We Coming, We Coming.

    Like 11
    Dislike 2
  24. Stay Woke says:

    There is a war being waged on the conscious community and the woke generation!

    Like 8
    Dislike 4
  25. Ausar says:

    Anda so the story goes…

    More and more confusion, frustration, and just sheer disgust, at the process of it all!

    When will the BVI be fully opened, to ALL, without restrictions?

    WHEN?

    Like 9
    Dislike 3
  26. Mix message. Mix up government says:

    Thought they said one day quarantine for fully vaccinated visitors.. Just until arriving test is done…They need to be consistent with their message..

    Like 6
    Dislike 2
    • Peaches says:

      @Mix message. Mix up government that is why you should not risk your precious life and soul by taking that vaccine. Too many lies, too many mixed messages. They constantly change their messages and then expect people to comply. All they are concerned about is this stupid herd immunity story. This is all a plan to trick people to take the poision.

      Like 3
      Dislike 1
  27. WEW says:

    Leave for the BVI from the states at 6am. Arrive at 5pm in those 11 hours the policy will have changed 3 times ! So turd world

    Like 11
    Dislike 2
  28. Yes says:

    God wills it

  29. Taxi says:

    B.s he is full with ! B.S

  30. Well sah says:

    May god help the British Virgin Islands!!!

    It’s sad to see how the government treating it’s own people when they claim say they come in to help…..

    If that’s how you helping, I seriously don’t want to see when you stop lending a helping hand….

    Nobody child at 5 at years to 15 years should be force to vaccinate.

    Premier you made these years memorable

  31. CON -Fused says:

    I cannot believe this non-sense. Once people are vaccinated, let them in and leave them be to spend their money and enjoy themselves. The requirements are so not clear.

  32. Questions says:

    1) how to you plan to help your island increase tourism with such strict rules and regulations ?

    2) So only BVI islander can do a day a trip but no other country meaning your neighboring island St.Thomas and Puerto Rico?

    3) how to you tend to help the local business and your neighboring island virgin gorda, anegada and just van dyke who make their livening with the help of day trippers who own speeds boat from st.Thomas, Puerto Rico who just want to hang out one day at the beach?

    4) you have horse race coming up, I guess it’s only locals you want to attend?

    5) who’s pocket these rules regulations helping mr. premier and followers?

    You are basically telling your locals if they don’t have $2000.00 plus they won’t be able to travel. You say you are helping, who are you really helping?

    If you were not the premier and was on the other side of the table would you have uphold these travel regulations?

    None of you in office can answer because you are the reaping the benefits and can leave and come as you please.

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