With the country’s major airports due to be reopened to commercial traffic from next week, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony has said travellers will not face any restrictions once they have returned a negative PCR test for COVID-19 within 72 hours before their arrival in the country.
At a National COVID-19 Task Force press conference last Thursday, Anthony stated that if a negative result from a test taken more than 72 hours prior to their arrival in Guyana is presented, that person will be required to take another PCR test on arrival in the country. He assured that the test results would be delivered in a reasonable timeframe and if negative, the person would be free to go about their business. However, if they test positive, they will have to be isolated.
“So literally you will be screened twice; at the point of origin and then when you come here, you do a second test. We are hoping that with this measure we’ll minimise anybody slipping through these two tests so it’s really a safety net here,” he later said in a COVID-19 update.
Anthony, who also said that the airport authorities will have to provide accommodations for persons awaiting their test results, added that once those persons are cleared, they will be allowed to travel anywhere in the country to conduct their business. He noted that at this point he believes that the people who will be travelling will fall under the essential service and business categories.
Last week, the PPP/C government confirmed that the two international airports, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene F Correia Airport, will reopen to commercial flights on October 12th.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who also spoke at the news conference on
Thursday, explained that there is a demand for the reopening of airports, hence the decision to proceed. “In a simple sense, that is what has led to our starting the discussions.
However, we will not just open the airport, as mentioned, there are a number of protocols that we have to put in place and that’s why we give ourselves until the 12th. No reopening before the 12th and we will take the opportunity between now and the 12th to put the protocols in place,” he said.
He added that once those protocols are in place, there will be a briefing.
