THE COMMUNITY CALLS FOR VIGILANCE AGAINST COVID

THE COMMUNITY CALLS FOR VIGILANCE AGAINST COVID
09/24/2020
The Collectivity is communicating this Thursday to urge the citizens to be extremely careful about the circulation of Covid-19. "The virus is circulating on the island. It has in particular been introduced by residents returning from Europe or neighboring islands," she explains. "The greatest vigilance is required. It is everyone's responsibility in this period of resumption of activity and as the tourist season approaches."

She recommends avoiding trips to surrounding islands as long as they can be postponed. In the event of return from abroad (the Committee cites only Europe and the surrounding islands), it asks newcomers to be very scrupulous for seven days on their return (mask, barrier gestures), and asks employers to 'they organize the return to work of employees returning from outside.

"The recent cases in the school canteen should serve as a lesson to us. Respect for barrier gestures also applies in the private and family environment. Family reunifications are the main vectors of proliferation of the virus and very often expose vulnerable people in the close circle. Protect your elders and the sick, "the statement continued. "As for bars and restaurants, we must redouble our efforts during this period of low attendance on the island."

"(...) It is together that we will succeed in limiting the circulation of the virus. Thanks to collective solidarity, the one that allowed us to recover after Cyclone Irma and, more recently, that which allowed us to relaunch activity after the lockdown period. "

Having just returned from the island, I do hope they begin to take this more seriously. One of the concerning observations I made when we were there was the very relaxed approach to mask enforcement and social distancing -- especially certain (not all) restaurants that were operating as if COVID-19 was a thing of the past and had tables and patrons seated within just a few feet of one another.

Having an economy so dependent on tourism means finding a way to safely balance the urgent need to reopen for business with an operating playbook that is risk-averse enough to mitigate community spread.

talk about closing the barn door after the horse.. well, yes, time to take it more seriously for sure, I agree with garykool....

The New York Times has a very good website that tracks the spread of Covid worldwide. The 7 day average in France has been around 9,000 new cases daily but yesterday (Thursday Sept. 24) it jumped to 29,000. It breaks it down by territories including St Barts and St Martin. I live in Vermont and when Covid spiked in NYC many residents fled to the "safe haven" of Vermont. My fear is this may happen to St Barts now. Please stay safe and wear your masks. You can track the virus at France Covid Map and Case Count The New York Times

Moderator KevinS maintains a up-to-date reporting directly from the local health officals in this thread.

So when the season starts up in the next couple of months and more workers are needed, will those workers arrive without needing to be tested if from France? How about if from some other European Countries or the French Caribbean? Seems like the obvious move if "vigilance" is being called for is to just test everyone

Jim A said:

So when the season starts up in the next couple of months and more workers are needed, will those workers arrive without needing to be tested if from France? How about if from some other European Countries or the French Caribbean? Seems like the obvious move if "vigilance" is being called for is to just test everyone

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. . . agree! Would seem pretty "obvious." However, I don't know if SBH is legally able to impose such a restriction.

SBH cannot impose such a restriction, but France can and has. In order to travel from mainland France to Guadeloupe passengers must have a negative PCR test result, taken within the previous 72 hours.

No test is required for travel between Guadeloupe and SBH.

Recently there was a cap imposed of 100 passengers each way, per day, per carrier, for flights between Guadeloupe and St Martin. I'm not sure such a cap is in place for flights between Guadeloupe and SBH, but my impression there is that there is not enough volume to require such a cap.

Last week the "compelling reasons" requirement was re-imposed for travelers between Guadeloupe and St Martin. Passengers must certify that they are traveling for one of the permitted "compelling reasons" (medical, family reunification, work requirements which cannot be delayed).

No such "compelling reasons" requirement is in place for travel from Guadeloupe to SBH.


SXM requires a negative PCR test result, taken within the previous 120 hours, for passengers on flights from Europe to SXM. SBH still has a 72 hour requirement for those continuing on to SBH.


I don't know what checks are done at the harbor for those arriving on the Voyager ferry from Marigot. The Great Bay Express ferry from Philipsburg is not permitted to operate at the moment, something which the company would like to see change now that the border between St Martin and Sint Maarten is fully open.

If you're flying to St Maarten from Europe, the only scheduled flights are on Air France (Paris) or KLM (Amsterdam). In order to get on those flights you have to have both the required PCR test and a St Maarten EHAS approval email. The only travelers exempt from the PCR test requirement are those from countries characterized as "low risk", and who have not visited a "moderate risk" or "high risk" country within the past 14 days. I can't find St Maarten's classification of countries, but the US CDC classifications can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html#travel-4 Every country in Europe is on the "high risk" list. The lists of "low risk" and "very low risk" countries is much shorter than the "high risk" list.

As reported by Le Journal, two of the recent COVID cases on SBH were people returning from Portugal, one of whom was asymptomatic. Presumably they provided the required PCR test before traveling. The test is only a snapshot of a moment in time. I don't know how effective it is if you were only very recently exposed to the virus, and someone can certainly be exposed between the time of testing and the time of travel.


More information on Sint Maarten's entry requirements can be found under the Travel Requirements and FAQ sections of the https://stmaartenehas.com website.

KevinS said:

I don't know how effective it (PCR) is if you were only very recently exposed to the virus...

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Does anybody really know... A prevailing thought is that it generally takes about 2 days from exposure for viral load to be sufficient for detection.

Below are two references that contain two of the many, generally similar, proposed curves that are out there. Another known unknown is how sensitive PCR is in the asymptomatics at the time of the test who never develop symptoms...

MedRxiv preprint https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.22.20136309
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) 58, 7; 10.1515/cclm-2020-0285.

KevinS said:

SBH cannot impose such a restriction, but France can and has. In order to travel from mainland France to Guadeloupe passengers must have a negative PCR test result, taken within the previous 72 hours.

No test is required for travel between Guadeloupe and SBH.

Recently there was a cap imposed of 100 passengers each way, per day, per carrier, for flights between Guadeloupe and St Martin. I'm not sure such a cap is in place for flights between Guadeloupe and SBH, but my impression there is that there is not enough volume to require such a cap.

Last week the "compelling reasons" requirement was re-imposed for travelers between Guadeloupe and St Martin. Passengers must certify that they are traveling for one of the permitted "compelling reasons" (medical, family reunification, work requirements which cannot be delayed).

No such "compelling reasons" requirement is in place for travel from Guadeloupe to SBH.


SXM requires a negative PCR test result, taken within the previous 120 hours, for passengers on flights from Europe to SXM. SBH still has a 72 hour requirement for those continuing on to SBH.


I don't know what checks are done at the harbor for those arriving on the Voyager ferry from Marigot. The Great Bay Express ferry from Philipsburg is not permitted to operate at the moment, something which the company would like to see change now that the border between St Martin and Sint Maarten is fully open.

Click to expand...

Things are tightening up a bit

FINALLY, IT TAKES AN IMPERIOUS REASON TO GET TO GUADELOUPE
by Valentine Autruffe 09/29/2020

Last week, the Prefect of Guadeloupe Alexandre Rochatte took new measures for Guadeloupe, placed in the maximum alert zone for the Covid-19 crisis. Among them, he announced the establishment of compelling grounds between Saint-Martin and Guadeloupe. The Prefecture of the Northern Islands then told us that Saint-Barth was not concerned. But ultimately, the press release published by the prefecture does indeed include Saint-Barthélemy. Thus, an inhabitant of our island who wishes to go to the butterfly island will have, as at the time of the confinement, to justify a good reason: medical appointment, professional obligation ... A priori this does not apply to travelers in transit through Pointe-à-Pitre. If the press release is online, the prefectural decree has not yet been published.
On Sunday, Prefect Sylvie Feucher asked Bruno Magras if he wished to apply the same thing in the other direction, that is to say to impose a compelling reason for someone coming from Guadeloupe to Saint-Barthélemy. The two agreed that this was not necessarily relevant. Even though the virus is circulating very actively in Guadeloupe, few Guadeloupeans make the trip to our island, especially during this period. In addition, the compelling reasons are difficult to verify in the facts: a lot of cheating had been observed during the confinement.
# covid # guadeloupe

Overnight, the requirement for “compelling reasons” for travel between Guadeloupe and SBH has been dropped.
https://www.journaldesaintbarth.com...imperieux-entre-saint-barth-202009301503.html

From Le Journal, translation by Google;

FINALLY (BIS), NO IMPERIOUS REASONS BETWEEN SAINT-BARTH
by V.A 09/30/2020
We’re getting lost! Yesterday, September 29, the prefecture of Guadeloupe announced in a press release on its website: “As of next week, travelers from Martinique, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and Guyana will have to justify an overriding reason for professional, health or family travel. "
This Wednesday, September 30, change of course in a new press release posted online on the site of the prefecture: “Between Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint-Martin, with the exception of Saint Barth: Travel is prohibited unless they are are based on an overriding personal or family reason, an emergency health reason or a professional reason that cannot be deferred. These new conditions do not apply to passengers in transit to and from Paris. "


So, finally, travelers between Saint-Barth and Guadeloupe, whether they are in transit or not, do not have to justify a compelling reason.