So, let me get this straight? They just now came up with 3,000,000 tests? Where were these tests when we needed to be saved from Covid. Everyone has been saying for the last 6 months we need more testing. And now, miraculously 3,000,000 “not for profit” tests show up? Are these “not for profit” tests going to be free? A friend was just charged $200 for a test in Freeport. Let’s see- 3,000,000 x $200= 600,000,000. There is a lot of room for some graft in there. Wouldn’t we all like to see a factual cost of what they are going to charge the tourists for the shots AND health insurance? We are 3 days away from opening up-supposedly. And maybe someone could explain the logic of PCR test required before entry but rapid test after entry? Baffling!

So, let me get this straight? They just now came up with 3,000,000 tests? Where were these tests when we needed to be saved from Covid. Everyone has been saying for the last 6 months we need more testing. And now, miraculously 3,000,000 “not for profit” tests show up? Are these “not for profit” tests going to be free. A friend was just charged $200 for a test in Freeport. Let’s see- 3,000,000 x $200= 600,000,000. There is a lot of room for some graft in there. Wouldn’t we all like to see a factual cost of what they are going to charge the tourists for the shots AND health insurance? We are 3 days away from opening up-supposedly.

It’s amazing to me that in the year 2020 our prime minister is ecstatic that there is not that much load shedding! Power generation is not rocket science! It has been around for probably a century. And, the BPL brain surgeons are having trouble trying to keep the power operational? Are we really at a tipping point? Probably so. Look at poor Abaco. It took BPL 5 or 6 months to even attempt to bring back power to the island. And a year+ to really begin to reconnect. Really glad those $20 million sidewalks are going in instead of building the infrastructure!

I don’t see any plan for the family islands. Maybe this is only Nassau.

Oh, that’s just dandy. 13 months after Dorian the reconstruction money is in the “pipeline”! Our poor brothers and sisters in Abaco deserved better!

Until these bonehead politicians come up with an actual realistic plan you can forget about Atlantis or any other hotel opening. So you follow protocol and get a test after 4 days that is positive! What now? You can’t fly out for 14 days. You have a spouse and 2 kids in your room. Do you get quarantined in a government facility for 14 days(at your cost)? Does the whole family get quarantined for 14 days in their room? What about if their vacation was only for 5 days-do they have to pay for another 14 days of quarantine? The immediate family can’t fly out either for 14 days. Do they pay 15,000 for a medical evacuation? We haven’t even talked about if the Covid turns serious and they have to go to hospital. Can PMH handle another 20 cases? I think we are a long way from opening. The NBA and NHL “bubble” had massive testing and a closed setting. Can’t happen in any resort unless the help stays at the resort.

How could any tourist possibly plan a trip to the Bahamas. They talk about opening up on 1 Nov, but now Nassau and Abaco under lockdown. If someone was trying to plan a trip for December(2 months) how would you have any idea what to expect- and then be forced to lose all your payments if the country suddenly locked down. And with a health visa costing probably $250 per person in addition to airfare, hotel, etc? Why not just go to Florida? Save thousands and thousands of $$$. Our government needs to get smart fast. I highly doubt Atlantis and Bahamar open by Christmas-if even by then!

If you expect the government to provide power, you need to come to Abaco and go thru the misery of no power and a trickle of water. And it’s been that way for 13 months. Why did it take them 6 or 7 months to start working on power?

Absolutley astonishing that our government can't figure this out. They are like the Keystone Cops chasing their tail when the answer is right in front of them. So, let's see-let's change the 14 day quarantine for 3 covid tests and forced insurance on the visitors. Are you kidding me? So, now the visitor will pay for the tests with their health visa and the insurance. And, if they are lucky, they won't have a false positive and try to cancel their flights and hotel reservations. Do these government officials think tourists are a bunch of dummies? They have presented the facts previously that only 1% of the foreign tourists that came in on the first (probably of many) re-openings caused covid problems. The first part of the equation is that they are not going to be able to stop every single covid case. It exists in the US and in the Bahamas. Just like a cold and the flu (even though they are way less deadly) they have to be willing to accept some level of risk. And, if the tourist is at risk, they shouldn't come. The answer is simple. Go to a 5 or 7 day test for everyone that comes into the Bahamas. Tourists, we Bahamians-everyone. If we want to go to the states for a few days we have to get a test there to come back. Simple. Forget all this other bureaucratic stuff with fees, etc. Just get the test and a health visa, wear a mask and social distance. Probably too simple for our officials who are going to create a complex nightmare for any tourist. And, then they'll wonder why no one is coming.

I am afraid our government is trying to do everything possible to open up for tourism without actually thinking this through-pretty much the same thing that has happened all along. The big resorts have spoken and they understand that the tourists are not coming in throngs until Covid dies down and they aren't trying to force an opening. They are watching their purse strings because unlike the government, they don't have unlimited funds to spend. The CDC wanted to delay cruises until February 2021. Very few are going to be jumping on airlines to come to the Bahamas and going through all this trouble for a short vacation. The government keeps trying to climb this mountain and then keeps slipping back. The new protocol is not going to be a boon for tourism. It might be a trickle. But, I hope our government now realizes that it has to do something with the healthcare in our country. It is dismal, and the fact that "Brave" Davis went to the states with Covid tells you something.