By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

VISITORS to The Bahamas will not only have to present a negative COVID-19 test, but they will also have to purchase an approved travel health visa and travel insurance, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar announced Saturday.

“As of November 1, travellers will be required to pay an application fee for their travel health visa,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “Additionally, as of November 14 all visitors to The Bahamas will be required to purchase COVID-19 health insurance before they come to The Bahamas. The cost of this mandatory health insurance will be automatically included in the total cost of the health visa.

“The inclusion of the travel health insurance is to ensure that any visitor who may test positive for the coronavirus while on vacation in The Bahamas or become ill from the virus while in The Bahamas will not suddenly become a burden on an already overburdened Bahamian public health system. This insurance is not intended for Bahamians, as they will be returning home and we expect them to avail themselves of our local health care providers and our local medical facilities in the usual manner.”

Tourists who find themselves stuck here due to testing positive to COVID-19 will be provided a per diem under the travel health insurance, which is provided by a private company, officials also said.

The issue has angered some locals because the government recently advised Bahamian travellers to take some extra cash with them when travelling abroad, as the Bahamian embassies where they might seek assistance when in trouble due to COVID-19 restrictions are not in a position to financially assist them.

The issue prompted some negative pushback on social media.

Acting Financial Secretary Mr Johnson in a series of responses on Facebook explained that the per diem to be paid would be covered in the health insurance included in the health visa required for entry into The Bahamas.

“That insurance coverage will cover all related expenses at no cost to the government,” he said in a Facebook response to a post.

Atlantic Medical, now CG Atlantic, has been contracted by the government to be the provider of this mandatory requirement.

“In the case where a visitor tests positive, three comprehensive options are available to the visitor – none of which will burden our existing health infrastructure,” Mr D’Aguilar explained. “First, those who test positive but exhibit no symptoms (asymptomatic) can quarantine in place for up to 14 days. The insurance will cover the hotel costs of that quarantine.

“Second, if a person tests positive, exhibits no symptoms (asymptomatic) but has a pre-existing medical condition, then they will have the option to be medically evacuated out of the country. And third, if a person tests positive and exhibits symptoms, they will be immediately medically evacuated to their home country for medical purposes.”

All associated costs with administering The Bahamas’ health protocols for visitors will be added to the new fee for the travel health visa.

Fees for the health visa are: citizens and returning residents, alongside visitors staying up to four nights will be charged $40; visitors staying more than four nights will be charged $60; children ten years and under will not be charged.

Meanwhile, Mr D’Aguilar said data suggests international tourism is down by 70 percent due to COVID-19’s impact. He said the country must safely reopen so the country’s economy can begin to recover.

“The latest data from the World Tourism Organization shows that international tourism is down a whopping 70 percent. Put another way, if we used to get 7.2 million tourists a year as we did just last year in 2019 the best we can expect right now is 2.2 million tourists a year – a reduction of a staggering 5 million tourists assuming we all do our part to prevent, diminish, stop further community spread of this deadly virus by wearing our masks, social distancing and not congregating in groups, both large and small.

“Here in The Bahamas, we are seeing and living this data firsthand. Tourism is the heart of our economy and accounts for 50 percent of our entire GDP and 65% of our employment. We must safely reopen and restart our tourism sector so that we, as a nation, can begin to recover. I firmly believe that together, and with the support and participation from every single member of our community, we can move the needle from survive to thrive.”

Ministry of Tourism Director General Joy Jibrilu could not give an approximate figure of visitors expected this week, but is hopeful that numbers will pick up by Thanksgiving.

“We can’t give that figure to you now,” she said. “We would have an approximate number but I don’t expect those numbers to be considerably more than they have been. Although having said that, we know yesterday alone our Travel Health Unit approved 1,000 applicants for the week of November 1.

“So they have had a very busy time and that is included the challenges that we’ve been experiencing. So while we don’t expect those numbers to be particularly anywhere near where they would have been even at the beginning of this year, we can look at those numbers at the end of November, looking towards Thanksgiving and coming up to Christmas and I think it would be great to check where we are now and how we ramp up and are ramping up.”

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen was also present at the press conference working remotely from the United States in his new role with the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.