Breaking News: Travel Entry Requirements Changed!

#TurksandCaicos, July 22, 2021 – More tests are approved as the Turks and Caicos makes changes to its Travel Requirements in the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic, but the timeframe for those negative results has been shrunk to three days; the changes take effect on July 28, 2021. 

“The Turks and Caicos Islands announces an update to travel requirements to the destination as a part of TCI Assured, a quality assurance pre-travel program and portal, which will require all travelers to present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR, NAA, RNA or Antigen test result from a test taken within three days of travel, effective on July 28, 2021.Travelers will be Required to Take a COVID-19 RT-PCR, NAA, RNA or Antigen Test Within Three Days of Travel,” said a media statement issued today by the TCI Tourist Board.

Now, the date of the sample collection must be within three days  or 72 hours of the travel date.  That is down from the five day requirement.

“We are proud to have safely welcomed travelers to our beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands over the past year and are updating travel requirements to ensure ongoing vigilance and in consideration of the efficacy and turnaround of available COVID-19 tests,” said Honorable Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism for the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

The travel requirement changes follow a spate of new Covid-19 infections among tourists; three separate families accounted for ?? per cent of the new infections, it was a first for the TCI.  Suggestions had been made that guests should perhaps quarantine for a few days upon arrival to ensure they are not carriers of the contagion.

The government has opted to expand types of testing for arriving passengers.  The media release listed the criteria.

“… a Test Date Calculator on the TCI Assured portal will assist travelers in determining when to take the test. Approved amendments to the Arriving Passengers Health Clearance Regulations also in effect on July 28 include the acceptance of professionally administered Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Tests (RT-PCR); Nucleic Acid Amplification tests (NAA); RNA or molecular tests; and Antigen tests for entry to the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

Additionally, “The test must be conducted by a medical laboratory with either of the following credentials: accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP); registered by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA); ISO 15189 certification. Previously, the destination was only accepting RT-PCR tests.”

Unacceptable says the Ministry of Tourism, will be “Antibody tests and results from home-based test kits.”

“More than 60 per cent of the adult population in the Turks and Caicos Islands is fully vaccinated, making us one of the most inoculated countries in the world; combined with our updated TCI Assured program, we are confident in the overall wellbeing of our communities and visitors as travel to the destination continues to flourish,” said Minister Connolly.

The announcement does not alter that “travelers must also have medical / travel insurance that covers medevac (insurance companies providing the prerequisite insurance will also be available on the portal), a completed health screening questionnaire, and certification that they have read and agreed to the privacy policy document.  These requirements must be complete and uploaded to the TCI Assured portal, which is available on the Turk and Caicos Islands Tourist Board website (www.turksandcaicostourism), in advance of their arrival.”

The Turks and Caicos Islands currently enjoys a Level 1 Alert from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is a UK Green listed country.   Turks and Caicos is among the top vaccinated countries in the Caribbean and one of the most inoculated in the world.