CDC tells US travellers to ‘avoid’ Barbados

Barbados is not on the United States Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) list of countries deemed safe for its citizens to travel

The CDC has so far deemed five Eastern Caribbean countries safe. These countries that have no travel notice issued against them are Anguilla, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia.

The CDC said the COVID-19 risk in these countries is ‘very low’.

Back on the CDC front, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, and the US Virgin Islands also fall on the list of Level 3 “high risk” countries.

For these countries, the CDC urges travellers to “avoid” and consider postponing non-essential travel.

This advisory comes exactly a week after Barbados copped the Seatrade Cruise Award for Destination of Year beating out fellow Caribbean country St Kitts and Nevis which remains on CDC’s list.

Meanwhile, despite having only one confirmed COVID-19 case, the BVI is still listed as Level 3 destination, which means that the risk of contracting the virus is “very high”.

However, the UK government has updated its travel advice for the BVI.

A social media statement from the Governor’s Office this month said the territory is now “exempt from the UK’s advisory against all non-essential travel”.

“The Governor welcomed the news and thanks health professionals and public officials for their ongoingwork to contain [COVID] clusters,” the Governor’s Office said.

The US regularly issues travel warnings and alerts against countries because of widespread violence and natural disasters. But this doesn’t mean that persons are banned from visiting any country flagged by the US.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all countries have been placed on the CDC’s COVID-19 Travel Recommendations by Destination.

Due to proximity and cheap airfares, the United States is one of the most essential locations for Caribbean tourism. (IMC)