#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.