With recent announcements made in the United States by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the entry permit requirement, implemented by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, as it currently is, comes into question.
The CDC stated on Saturday 30th July 2021, vaccinated persons in the United States, who acquired breakthrough infections, carrying the Delta Variant, have been found to carry equal amounts of Covid 19 viral loads and can transmit the virus just as much as unvaccinated persons.
At present, entry requirement for persons travelling into Trinidad & Tobago from abroad, are screened primarily on being vaccinated or unvaccinated. for both categories, negative PCR tests are required and are to be presented upon entry. Upon arrival into the country, Vaccinated persons are allowed to proceed to their inbound destination. However, unvaccinated persons are required to enter into 14 days of quarantine at a government appointed facility and the associated cost, to be born solely by the unvaccinated traveler.
With the recent development announced by the CDC, it remains unclear whether the Trinidad & Tobago Government, will change its position regarding entry requirements, since it is now known that infected, vaccinated persons, can present exactly the same level of risk as an unvaccinated person.
Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, has always stated publicly, his government is guided by the science. At last Saturday’s Prime Minister’s press conference, held to update the population about his government stewardship in handling the Covid 19 Virus, no mention was made regarding this development, although, information relative to this, though only reported by the CDC on the same Saturday, was circulating in other reputable medical circles, long before the CDC’s announcement.
The current permit policy, implemented by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago, allows for the high possibility of easy and undetected entry of the virus, including the Delta variant (if not already here), into our country, via inbound travelers, who may have become infected, after their PCR testing, which was required to be done, 72 hours prior their flight’s arrival and are not required to be tested or quarantined upon their arrival into the country, thereby, being freely allowed to cause contagion.
While this may seem to be quite well understood, it remains to be seen, whether there would be an urgent change in policy, to accommodate this new threat.