Govt. withdraws COVID-19 travel advisory

Jan 07, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana on Friday withdrew its Travel Advisory (1 of 2023) issued on Thursday requiring travelers from China to have a negative COVID-19 test to enter Guyana.

In a statement Friday night, the government said that the National COVID-19 Taskforce Secretariat and the Ministry of Health Technical Working Group “further considered the current global epidemiological COVID-19 situation as outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

According to the COVID-19 Taskforce, the WHO outlined that the decrease in surveillance and changes in reporting frequency had interpreted epidemiological trends as more complex.

It is noted that there is increased hospitalisation, ICU admission and deaths in some regions. It also noted that the circulation of the highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants such as XBB, XBB1.5, BQ1 and BA 2.75.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), on January 5, 2023 advised that many of the new variants of Omicron have been circulating in the Caribbean region since early 2022, as evidenced by gene sequencing results from samples submitted by Member States to CARPHA.

“Considering that Omicron sub-variants circulating in Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are similar to those across the Caribbean, it was concluded that no advantage would be gained through toe testing requirements,” the National Taskforce said.

It is against this backdrop, that the Taskforce said it has withdrawn the Travel Advisory.

The resurgence of COVID has caused several countries to re-implement travel restrictions. As such:

Passengers should always carry relevant documents of their vaccination status.
Passengers must be aware of the testing requirements of their country of destination inclusive of requirements of countries of transit.
Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before travelling should be able to provide documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in lieu of a negative test result.

In this regard, the Taskforce called on the public to adhere to all Public Health Safety Measures (PIISM), adhere to social distancing and ensure that they get their booster shots. The booster shots are recommended especially among older people (60 years and older) and those persons with comorbidity.