#BTColumn – A year lost due to COVID

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Alex Currie

I am both happy and sad to read in Barbados TODAY that the travel protocols are being amended to require all visitors to have a PCR test before departing their home country for Barbados.

I am happy because, as I follow the history each day since re-opening, it is clear that the protocols have had few leaks in respect to what was defined as a low risk or medium risk country. That loop hole appears to be closing.

On the other hand, I am saddened because this requirement basically takes us and many Canadians out of the market for the foreseeable future because PCR tests are only available on demand in a very limited number of provinces and not in mine.

I had hoped that the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth Geroge, with whom I have been communicating, would be more forthcoming in that there are new, approved rapid testing technologies which, according to research, are nearly as effective as a PCR test and when you back it up with a PCR test 4-5 days after arrival then the system should work if airlines are required to administer the test before allowing passengers to board for their flight to Barbados.

Coming next year does carry premium costs for us. Healthcare insurance premiums for a single trip of 50 days with COVID-19 coverage are 50 per cent higher than an annual multi-trip 30-day policy.

Based on getting tested in Barbados on arrival, we would have to plan seven nights in approved quarantine facilities due to uncertainty re whether the second test was done four days post arrival or five days.

This effectively would cost 20 per cent more than what our annual vacation costs are just to get to our vacation time.

So I expect that 2021 will be a pass year for us and many other Canadians. I am sure that people in other markets will be in the same boat.

I respect and praise the Mottley government for their handling of the COVID situation from the day I left three weeks early in the spring to get home until today, and I still say it is the right thing to do. But it is painful for someone who was so looking forward to a 30th visit in 40 years.

If you are young, a year lost can be made up. At 76, a year lost is just lost.

Cheers.

Alex Currie
North Saanich BC, Canada