Thursday, 28 July, 2022
The Federal Cabinet has met and approved the recommendation of the National COVID-19 Task Force that there be no change to the existing Health and Travel Protocols that are required by all travelers entering St. Kitts and Nevis,
The National COVID-19 Task Force met on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at the NEMA Headquarters, Lime Kiln, Basseterre. A number of matters were discussed following which the Task Force submitted its Report to the Federal Cabinet and in which they made certain Recommendations emerging from the meeting and sought Cabinet’s approval.
In its Report, the Taskforce stated that it continues in its mission to reduce the risk of importation of cases of the novel coronavirus into the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis while, at the same time, doing everything possible to control and contain community transmission of the virus, and to save lives.
The Health and Travel Protocols were discussed and it was agreed that the existing protocols will remain in place. The current iteration was introduced on April 1st 2022.
It was the considered position of the Task Force that St. Kitts and Nevis had recently gone through the experience of the Music Festival, when, from data provided covering the period June 19 – 25, 2022, some 3006 visitors came into Country and they were processed using the existing protocols.
The Task Force noted that there were no adverse reports in the handling of any large inflow of passengers into the Federation during the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in January and that the system had also recently been tested by the Music Festival.
The current COVID-19 Protocols in St. Kitts and Nevis for Incoming Travelers are as follows:
- Every person entering the Federation, who is a non-national, must be vaccinated. Only nationals and approved legal residents are entitled to enter the Federation without vaccination;
- Every person entering the Federation must upload to the knatravelform.kn platform either (a) a negative RT-PCR test that was done not longer than 72 hours before travel; or (b) a negative approved antigen test uploaded not more than one (1) day prior to travel;
- Every unvaccinated person entering the Federation must quarantine for seven (7) days and remain in quarantine for that duration. That person can only clear quarantine if their exit test is negative;
- Every person who tests positive upon arrival must remain isolated in quarantine for the duration of their illness until cleared by a negative exit test.
The Cabinet has therefore approved the recommendations of the COVID-19 Task Force and supports the position that the current entry protocols for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis remain in place until further notice, in spite of the fact that there might soon be an influx of returning nationals following the announcement that the General Elections is scheduled for Friday. August 5, 2022.
The Cabinet also agrees with the view of the Task Force that additional technical and human resources be put in place regarding the Help Desk to assist with any increased traffic created by returning nationals for the General Elections which would ensure that this would be handled efficiently by the various State agencies represented on the Fusion Centre for the knatravelform.kn platform.
The Cabinet calls on all citizens to be guided by this directive and thanks the Senior Officials of the various Government agencies who continue to work tirelessly through the National COVID-19 Task Force to protect all the citizens and residents of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
