SABA—Leisure travel from Curaçao and Bonaire to Saba is no longer possible. Persons arriving from these two islands must now go into mandatory quarantine, except ZVK patients.
Island Governor Jonathan Johnson announced this during a COVID-19 update on Tuesday, August 11. The decision was taken considering the increase in COVID-19 cases on other islands, in particular Aruba, and the fact that Curaçao and Bonaire had their borders open to Aruba in the past weeks.
Therefore, the risk profile of Curaçao and Bonaire has changed from low to medium. This means that
that leisure travel from these islands is no longer allowed. Also, essential travelers entering Saba from Curaçao and Bonaire must adhere to the 14-day mandatory quarantine. Quarantine is not required for patients returning Bonaire and Curaçao, if they have travelled under the strict protocol of the Caribbean Netherlands Health Insurance Office ZVK.
Any incoming travelers from high-risk countries, such as the United States and Sint Maarten, are required to go to a central quarantine location. The traveler is responsible for organizing the purchase and delivery of groceries to this location, as well as paying for the costs of staying in this central quarantine location.
“Travel during this time is very uncertain, which results in frequently changing travel policies and measures. We therefore advise persons wishing to travel off-island for non-essential purposes to take this into consideration. The organization of return travel, as well as any additional costs which may occur, will be a responsibility of the person in question,” stated Johnson.
Under Saba’s travel policy only essential travel, medical travel, students and returning residents may enter the island. Persons must request permission for entry before traveling and send an email to info@sabagov.nl. If the request is approved, the person will receive a travel exemption letter which is needed for traveling. The letter outlines the conditions that must be followed. Persons without a letter will not be permitted to enter the island. Persons from medium and high-risk countries must have a negative COVID-19 test result in order to enter the island. Saba does not allow leisure visitors.
Saba is remains at alert level 2. This will remain for an additional two weeks, if no further developments occur. Since last week, Saba has two active cases of COVID-19. These persons are in isolation. Nineteen persons are in quarantine.
