TOURISTS who come to the country when commercial international travel resumes on July 1 will have to present a negative COVID-19 test.

Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar made the announcement in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.

The current status quo maintains that all visitors and returning residents must have a negative test for entry into Bahamian borders.

However, prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the government had not made a decision on whether this practice would continue on July 1 and afterwards.

Critics had raised concern about a possible rise in cases here once the country fully opens its borders next month, due to a reported spike in COVID-19 cases in many US states and ongoing protests there.

On Wednesday, the tourism minister said the “status quo” on requiring negative tests will remain in place after the July 1 opening, given the spike in US cases, where the bulk of the Bahamas’s tourist market comes from.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Tribune.