Action Taken Against Visitor Following Breach of Tourism Health and Safety Protocols

The Ministry of Health and Wellness in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism has at every juncture enforced that with the reintroduction of tourism, the Health and Safety of our people and local communities remain paramount in our decisions in the fight against this COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, July 23, 2020, a visitor was placed in a government-operated state quarantine facility after spending several nights at a certified hotel. On July 24, the visitor was then subsequently escorted to the Hewanorra International Airport and departed on a flight to the visitor’s original jurisdiction. These actions were taken as there were repeated reports of protocol infringements on the part of the visitor. These infringements were flagged by the management of the hotel. Though travel protocols were made public internationally from May 2020 and were introduced to the visitor on arrival into Saint Lucia on more than one occasion. Subsequently, Law enforcement stepped in and reiterated the protocols, but the individual continued to disregard and flouted the prescribed protocols.

The Ministry of Tourism takes this opportunity to commend the Royal Saint Lucia Police force for their swift action and hereby remind incoming travellers of Saint Lucia’s strictly enforced mandatory travel protocols.

All arriving passengers must have a negative result from a PCR test done no more than 7 days before their travel to Saint Lucia
All Arriving passengers must complete the Prearrival Travel Registration Form prior to arrival in Saint Lucia (visit https://www.stlucia.org/en/covid-19/)
All arriving passengers must adhere to all protocols relevant to airports
All arriving passengers will be screened, this will include temperature checks.
All symptomatic passengers will be immediately isolated and tested. If the test result is positive for COVID-19 the passenger will be transferred to the Respiratory Hospital for treatment and care at their cost.
Other passengers will be transferred by certified taxi to approved COVID-19 accommodation, a government quarantine site or home quarantine
Hotel guests travelling from outside the designated Travel Bubble are required to remain on the property for the duration of their stay except to participate in water-based excursions arranged by the hotel.
Visitors to Hotels are also reminded that during the pilot phase of operation, split stays at properties are not permitted. Any attempt to do so will be flagged during the robust entry screening process.

With Sector and Government Agencies working together to mitigate the possible spread of COVID-19 into local communities, ALL travellers to Saint Lucia are to adhere to the strictly enforced mandatory travel protocols. Failure to do so would result in the return of visitors to their various jurisdictions at their expense.