#Providenciales, Turks and Caicos – March 21, 2021 – Tourists are living Covid-19 safe lifestyles when they vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the luxury resorts report that testing is averaging around 1,000 per day with no positives for the virus on most days.
“There is no place in the region safer than Turks and Caicos for vacations. It’s like our guests are living in a safe bubble and now with the great work of the Ministry of Health, local numbers are down as well; so to me, Turks and Caicos is the safest vacation spot,” said Ken Patterson, CEO Seven Stars Resort.
Patterson informs his resort, which sits on World’s Leading Beach, Grace Bay has conducted 6,228 tests since the travel requirement came into force for the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in January 2021.
“Since January 25, we have tested 6,228 people and over that time only eight people have tested positive. When they did, we turned that information over to the Ministry of Health which tested them again using the PCR method,” informed Patterson.
Like other resorts, there is a contingency plan for isolation and quarantine of guests who do end up with a positive for the coronavirus.
Since the new travel requirements of leading source markets have kicked in, the TCI Ministry of Health Covid-19 dashboard reveals there have been 20,896 tests performed and 94 of those tests are returning positives for Covid-19.
Evidence that mandatory public health regulations for physical distancing, face mask wearing, reduced capacity at restaurants, bars and on pleasure boats are working to stave off any surge in cases of Covid-19; an enviable feat for the tiny islands which sit about 90-minutes, by plane, off the southern coast of Florida.
A report by Magnetic Media raised alarm and was a wrong reflection of the Ministry of Health situational report. The Ministry explained that actually, the positives shown on the dashboard are reflective of new tests performed in a day and not positives for the coronavirus.
“Nine hundred and two tests were carried out on March 19, 2021, with a total of three positive results reported for that date (0.3%). The number of positives pale in comparison to the number of negatives. Positive cases undergo confirmatory testing at the National Public Health Laboratory and are included with the total number of positives reported,” said a Saturday statement issued by the Ministry.
The Ministry of Health adds the rapid antigen testing, approved for 21 sites around the Turks and Caicos since January is taking samples from both locals and guests.
Vaccine distribution in the Turks and Caicos is also well underway, with over 32 percent of the adult population having had their first jab of the UK-gifted Pfizer/BioNtech brand of the Covid-19 vaccine. Ken Patterson said most of his staff has already been inoculated; as many as 11,283 people across seven islands in the British overseas territory have receive the first shot
Magnetic Media, on Saturday, issued a statement explaining the misinterpretation of the data on the dash board. Our apologies for any inconvenience the report would have caused.
