NO MORE PORTAL, NO MORE MASKS, NO MORE TESTS  

By Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

#TurksandCaicos, April 26, 2022 – Well over half a million travel entry approvals have been processed by the TCI Travel Assured portal which will in four days become a relic; put into retirement as the Turks and Caicos Islands demonstrates it is confident the worst of the Coronavirus Pandemic is behind us.

Also gone: mandatory mask wearing and mandatory testing in order to enter the Turks and Caicos Islands for everyone.

The announcement came on Monday April 25, 2022.  There were no new raft of rules unveiled to manage the virus, there were only rollbacks of restrictions and the beginning of COVID Normal for the TCI, which is a leading tourism destination and a UK overseas territory.

 “…as of April 18th, 2022 the Turks and Caicos Islands have again lowered it’s CDC Health threat listing to now a level 2. I again thank all the Health Professionals, Frontline workers, the various associations, and you the general public for your role in helping us continue to manage this now over 2 year old Covid-19 Pandemic,” said Jamell Robinson, Minister of Health & Human Services.

Added to the improved health and safety rating by the CDC, the Turks and Caicos Minister in his Monday National Health Update had significant reveals and changes to the Covid 19 Public and Environmental Health protocols.

The rules were approved by Members of the Turks and Caicos Cabinet.

“Approved for a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered for all adults, prioritizing those aged 60 and over and high-risk immunosuppressed individuals in the first instance,” said Robinson, who added, “Members also agreed to remove the requirement for visitors to have a negative Covid test and insurance. As such, the requirement for all passengers to register their details on the TCI Assured portal is discontinued with effect of 1 May 2022.”

The change which takes effect as of Sunday, also puts the TCI Travel Assured Portal, which was established ahead of a July 2020 reopening of the borders to tourism after the threat of the coronavirus, into retirement.

Now, in order to enter the Turks and Caicos, there will be no need to apply and gain approval through the portal.  Just like in the old days, which was about two years ago, one just needs to buy a ticket and show up at the airline check in counter.

Visitors, however , will still need to be fully vaccinated in order to enter the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Once Covid-19 tanked global travel, countries responded with a pre-approval in order to visit the respective countries.  For the Turks and Caicos Islands, an approval was hinged on a valid test, vaccination card and insurance coverage.  It was painstakingly managed by human power under the remit of the TCI Ministry of Tourism.  The most recent COVID-19 Dashboard for TCI exposes that at the very least, some 478,593 guest travellers passed through the portal process.

The figure above is only part of the picture.  It does not include travelling residents and does not reflect guests who would have visited the territory prior to January 2021 rules when travellers were expected to test negative for COVID for entry and exit.

Masks in Turks and Caicos were already discontinued for outdoor activities; now the government has stepped back from legalizing the donning of face coverings.

“Approved amendments to the Public and Environmental Health Covid-19 Regulations removing the mandatory requirement for face masks to be worn indoors and in enclosed spaces with effect of 1 May 2022,” informed Minister Robison.

Masks are now optional.

Returning residents who are fully vaccinated never had to provide a negative test for COVID; now returning residents who are unvaccinated are exempt from testing also.

Minister Robinson informed, “Visitors must present proof of vaccination and returning residents must present proof of (TCI) residency.”

The significant changes which render null and void the need for a 3-day old PCR test, an antigen test or the wait and hope to get the TCI Travel Assured Portal approval ahead of flights, makes Turks and Caicos a far more attractive and affordable vacation option as the cost to visit and hassle to get in are now gone.