NO REOPENING CAN BE CONSIDERED BEFORE WE CAN TEST THE ENTRANTS

we survived Irma, we will survive this as well.

with Irma, 3 weeks without electricity, food was running low, trucks went around the island giving out water and pasta, no internet for awhile, phone service spotty at best. I used a barrel to wash clothes with water coming from the cistern with a hose. clothes line to hang the clothes outside. no lights at night, used candles. this lock down is like being in a palace compared to what we experienced with Irma. That is why we have to be very careful on opening the borders, hurricane + virus will kill us all. we have to wait till its safe. at least till october for tourists. november would be better.

It is better to survive and be healthy, St Barths is an island of beautiful beaches and great people, the tourists will come back eventually as this is a place like no where else and will remain so.

I have traveled the world, been to so many places, I kept coming back here, as will the future tourists.

Diana, I agree with your assessment that island residents need to be wary of this virus and need to do their due diligence to stay virus-free right now. There is no place quite like St. Barth, and those of us who hold the island, and its’ people, near and dear to our hearts will return when the time is right. We were scheduled to fly down one week from today...we are sad beyond belief. That being said, we will return as soon as we can do so safely. Until then, we will stay connected through this Forum, for which we are truly grateful to be a part of.
 
The only test today of any value would be an antibody test. If one tests positive, that would confirm they have had the COVID-19 virus. These are the people that are donating convalescent plasma today. That plasma is then transfused to the very ill CVD patients with very good success rates so far. However, today, there are many different manufactures of antibody tests and this is providing too many false positives and false negatives. The current test for the virus itself is only a good tool if one has an active virus. You maybe in the window period and still test negative. Therapies are evolving fast. An antiviral may be a solution well before a vaccine is developed if it ever is.
 
Departure Testing:
Approximately 1,300,000 Americans have Corona Virus as of today - or about 1/3 of 1% Of the US population. One (1) out of every 300 persons might have the virus. Assuming 100 arrivals per day would suggest 1 infected person for every 3 days of arrivals.
However if testing was done on departure and assuming the tests are 95% effective. Then 1 out of 20 infected people might get through.
this then brings us to 1 out of 60 days of arrivals could test positive as opposed to 1 out of 3.

I thought I read an article about studies done in NY and FL where 14%-15% came back testing positive to antibodies (meaning they have already had it). So you are looking at 30,000,000 to 45,000,000 who have come in contact with the virus.

Also, if you do departure testing, what do you do if someone comes back positive before they boards? What about the people they have come in contact with while waiting for their flight.

It is really interesting to see how this will shake out. If SBH is successful in keeping a rate of 0 infections they do pose a risk by opening back up to tourism. I think the good news is that they have a little time to figure it out as hurricane season approaches. Hopefully we will be in a much better position come the end of October.

20 years ago we were whistling past the graveyard with regards to air travel and security procedures. Hopefully that is not the case now as I am not sure how far down the rabbit hole of testing I would want to be subject to before getting on a plane.
 
F.D.A. Clears First Home Saliva Test for Coronavirus - this approval of at an at home "spit test" using same principles of nasal swab testing (PCR for infection/contagiousness) is very limited at this time but the option to substitute a "spit test" obtained at home for nasal swab is welcome news... if/when approval is expanded, the potential to use this for pre-departure screening will need to be placed in the context of the status of other hurdles regarding testing capacity....
 
Diana, I agree with your assessment that island residents need to be wary of this virus and need to do their due diligence to stay virus-free right now. There is no place quite like St. Barth, and those of us who hold the island, and its’ people, near and dear to our hearts will return when the time is right. We were scheduled to fly down one week from today...we are sad beyond belief. That being said, we will return as soon as we can do so safely. Until then, we will stay connected through this Forum, for which we are truly grateful to be a part of.
Certainly agree with this post. There is just no place like St Barth for us so even tho we have postponed till April 2021 we will continue to follow this on the Forum so that we are abreast of the latest requirements for entering SBH. What we don’t want is to be detained in SXM because someone on the flight tested positive on their arrival. Hopefully as time marches on things will become more clear.
 
Getting there. This virus is nasty and has a way of knowing your weak spots... Doc says it can take up to 6 weeks before you feel human again.... another 2 weeks to go....
 
So sorry to read that you have had this dreadful virus & hope your recovery continues so you can enjoy life again.
 
Very sorry to read of your bad fortune, Pascale! And am glad that you're recovering. Be well soon!
 
Getting there. This virus is nasty and has a way of knowing your weak spots... Doc says it can take up to 6 weeks before you feel human again.... another 2 weeks to go....

So sorry to hear of your infection. Seems like just weeks ago we were having dinner at adjacent tables on that island. My 83 year old sister in assisted living seems to have beaten the odds - twice to the hospital, but now declared recovered! Hang in there!
 
Perhaps St. Barts can follow Iceland's example? This sounds realistic.

"No later than 15 June 2020, travelers are expected to be given a choice between a two-week quarantine or being tested for the virus upon arrival, or otherwise proving that they are free of coronavirus infection. Exact requirements are still being developed but travelers will likely be required to download and use the official tracing app already in use by 40% of the population in Iceland. The app has been developed following the strictest privacy standards, with location data stored locally on the user's device unless released for tracing purposes in case of an infection."

https://www.government.is/news/article/2020/05/12/Testing-for-international-arrivals-could-start-in-June/?fbclid=IwAR0RKS0RHqt-RifJklntfE74EayX3aCYXQZajrsupO6Nc-dLZLQREvWztlg
 
Perhaps St. Barts can follow Iceland's example? This sounds realistic.

"No later than 15 June 2020, travelers are expected to be given a choice between a two-week quarantine or being tested for the virus upon arrival, or otherwise proving that they are free of coronavirus infection. Exact requirements are still being developed but travelers will likely be required to download and use the official tracing app already in use by 40% of the population in Iceland. The app has been developed following the strictest privacy standards, with location data stored locally on the user's device unless released for tracing purposes in case of an infection."

https://www.government.is/news/article/2020/05/12/Testing-for-international-arrivals-could-start-in-June/?fbclid=IwAR0RKS0RHqt-RifJklntfE74EayX3aCYXQZajrsupO6Nc-dLZLQREvWztlg


You are comparing apples to oranges. would not work here. Iceland has never had a hurricane, and they have over 350 thousand people that live there. this island has ten thousand residents living here on an eight square mile piece of land.

If we let tourists in and somehow the virus gets in and takes off , then going on a worse case event, we get a hurricane here while we are trying to contain the virus , we not only will be fighting the virus but trying to pick up the pieces after a hurricane. this is not a good idea. we will be entering hurricane season in two weeks. Its prudent to wait till oct or nov. for allowing tourists.
 
Thanks all ! Everyone in our household ended up getting the virus in different stages of seriousness: I was the only one who had to be hospitalized. The grand kids did not ... strange beast.
 
You are comparing apples to oranges. would not work here. Iceland has never had a hurricane, and they have over 350 thousand people that live there. this island has ten thousand residents living here on an eight square mile piece of land.

If we let tourists in and somehow the virus gets in and takes off , then going on a worse case event, we get a hurricane here while we are trying to contain the virus , we not only will be fighting the virus but trying to pick up the pieces after a hurricane. this is not a good idea. we will be entering hurricane season in two weeks. Its prudent to wait till oct or nov. for allowing tourists.

Apologies, as I don’t think I was clear in my first post. I definitely am not encouraging St. Barts to follow Iceland’s timeline for reopening. I am suggesting that they follow their lead in implementing these specific practices — they’ve already indicated that they will likely test every entrant to the island, just like Iceland is proposing, but the added feature of mandatory contact tracing app usage on the island for visitors is a great addition.

If anything, these methods (particularly contact tracing) are easier to implement and even more effective on a small island rather than a densely populated urban center such as Manhattan, etc.
 
The European Commission proposal of 5/13 calls for" a phased and coordinated approach that starts by lifting restrictions between areas or Member States with sufficiently similar epidemiological situations"... if and in what form this gets adopted for mainland France, how it would be applied to nonmember states, and how it would be used outside the Schengen for St Barth is unknown, but with few places worldwide claiming "similar epidemiological situations" as St Barth, the potential tourism pool would be pretty small...

Iceland (mentioned above, non-EU but with ties) is a great example of a country that has been successful in gaining control after implementing "aggressive and proactive contact tracing efforts before widespread community transmission could be established". A key determinant of the success of contact tracing is how established the outbreak is (for calculations as the US tries to ease restrictions, it has been estimated one case averages about 50 contacts of duration, proximity, etc. that should be tested but this obviously varies by individual and criteria are open to interpretation). The purchase of the Cepheid machines has positioned St Barth for a strong contact tracing program (as long as shortages of swabs, glass vials, reagents etc. that have occurred elsewhere are avoided). Iceland's tracking app has only marginally helped but this may reflect the high quality tracking program that was already in place before the app was available and a strong case can be made for using a tracking app to follow tourists... what happens in Iceland after borders are opened to tourists may help guide St Barth despite no two places being the same....
 
As long as there are new cases in Guadeloupe and Saint Martin, my guess is the borders will stay closed here. The regional health agency (ARS) and the prefecture will make the decision about when navigation can begin again (private boats/ferries, etc.) and when tourists may come back via air or sea. I would assume Iceland has the hospitals needed in case of an epidemic, St Barth does not, so that complicates things even more. And as Diana says, we are a month away from the start of hurricane season, so some home owners are hoping to get back to close up their homes for the summer. It's complicated in many ways!
 
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