Virgin Islands Visitors Should Consider Pre-Trip Vaccinations

The British Virgin Island Governor Augustus Jaspert announced: ‘Ticketing, more frequent monitoring and stricter penalties will be enacted to protect the Territory from further community spread of COVID-19 disease.’

Issued on September 3, 2020, this press statement said ‘To ensure full compliance, we are enhancing the Police enforcement and Social Monitoring Task Force. There will be a zero-tolerance policy for individuals or businesses breaking the rules. The law is being changed to remove warnings for first offenses.’

Governor Jaspert went on to say that those who are found to be out of compliance with health and safety regulations will be subject to fines and other penalties.

“If you are found to be breaking the curfew or failing to wear a face mask or social distance, you could be issued a fine on the spot - $100 for individuals and $1,000 for businesses. And businesses can risk being shut down if they fail to enforce social distancing measures or open without authorization,” Jaspert said.

Governor Jaspert also encouraged residents to report any compliance concerns they have to the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force by calling 311.

“To those individuals and businesses not complying – this is the moment you need to change the approach for the sake of the community. Failure to follow these measures is selfish and puts everyone at risk. The only way to avoid a full 24-hour lockdown is for every single individual to comply,” Governor Jaspert said.

According to the U.S. CDC on August 31, 2020, the health risk from the coronavirus pandemic has increased in the British Virgin Islands over the past 14-days, several new cases of COVID-19 disease have been confirmed in the British Virgin Islands.

The CDC’s recent Level 3 Travel Alert recommends travelers avoid all nonessential international travel to the British Virgin Islands. Some examples of essential travel may include traveling for humanitarian aid work, medical reasons, or family emergencies.

Furthermore, seniors and anyone with certain underlying medical conditions should consider postponing all travel, including essential travel, to the British Virgin Islands until further notice.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) are located in the Caribbean Sea, just to the east of Puerto Rico and consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke, along with over 50 other smaller islands and cays.

With about 30,000 British citizens, the BVI usually welcomes over 190,000 visitors each year.

And if you get sick when visiting the British Virgin Islands and need medical care, healthcare resources may be limited.

Additionally, if you test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or COVID-19, even if you have no symptoms, you may be isolated or not be permitted to depart the British Virgin Islands until you have recovered fully from your illness. 

If you get exposed to a person with COVID-19 while traveling abroad, you may be quarantined or not be permitted to return to the USA until 14-days after your last exposure.

Healthcare providers in the USA should obtain a detailed travel history for patients with symptoms of potential COVID-19 infection, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, the new loss of taste or smell, vomiting, or diarrhea, and sore throat.

From a disease prevention perspective, the CDC suggests ensuring you are up-to-date on routine vaccines before every trip. These vaccines include the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, varicella vaccine, polio vaccine, and your yearly flu shot.

And ask your doctor what vaccines and medicines you need based on where you are going, how long you are staying, what you will be doing, and if you are traveling from a country other than the USA. 

Specific travel vaccine options can be found at this link.

Vax-Before-Travel publishes research-based international travel news.