STRICTER MEASURES: Travelers from Harbour Island & Eleuthera to rest of Bahamas must have negative RT-PCR test – EyeWitness News

NASSAU, BAHAMAS Travelers from Harbour Island and Eleuthera are facing stricter travel protocols as the Office of the Prime Minister announced last night that they will now have to take an RT-PCR test to travel to other islands in the country.

They are also required to take a rapid antigen test on the fifth day after their arrival, in line with current standard protocols for travelers arriving in-country from international destinations.

Prior to this latest update, the requirement only applied to people traveling from New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco to other Family Islands.

A statement announcing the new requirement, which takes effect today, read: In accordance with the Emergency Powers (COVID-19 Pandemic) (Risk Management) (No. 4) (Amendment) (No. 10) Order, 2021, persons traveling from Harbour Island and Eleuthera will now be required to undergo an RT-PCR COVID-19 test in order to obtain a travel health visa.

The requirement is effective Thursday, 1 April, 2021 and applies to persons older than 10 years of age traveling from Harbour Island and Eleuthera, to other parts of The Bahamas.

This does not apply to travel between mainland Eleuthera and its surrounding islands and cays.

Travelers from Eleuthera and Harbour Island will also now be required to take a COVID-19 rapid antigen test on the fifth day after arrival to their destination within The Bahamas and submit the results to the Ministry of Health online via the health travel website.

This latest update comes ahead of the Easter holiday weekend andon the heels of some Family Islanders urging the government to exercise more empathy with Family Islanders needing to travel to New Providence, as the additional cost of a full RT-PCR test was proving a heavy burden.

It also follows nine people, including a 17-year-old, being hauled before the courts this week for attempting to use falsified COVID test results to travel to the Family Islands from New Providence.

The Office of the Prime Minister noted, however, that inter-island testing requirements are expected to be eased with the acceleration of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, which just recently began.

To read the complete order, please visit http://www.opm.gov.bs.

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STRICTER MEASURES: Travelers from Harbour Island & Eleuthera to rest of Bahamas must have negative RT-PCR test - EyeWitness News