ORANJESTAD – Because of the new case of coronavirus COVID-19 announced by the Minister of Public Health in St. Maarten on Wednesday, the public entity of St. Eustatius has increased the level of COVID-19 risk in St. Maarten from low to medium.
As a result, anyone arriving from St. Maarten, Friday, July 17, will have to go into home-based quarantine for fourteen days.
An exemption will be made for medical referrals, with a very strict protocol in place.
The Health Department explained that persons can still leave Statia this morning, but on return they will be obligated to go into quarantine.
The cases [of the coronavirus – Ed.] In Bonaire are contained, while this is not the case in St. Maarten. It is unclear what caused it, so there could be more going on,” Deputy Government Commissioner Alida Francis said in explaining that the COVID-19 patients in Bonaire had a history of travel, while the St. Maarten patient did not.
Where medical referrals are concerned, persons can still travel to St. Maarten Medical Center and return to Statia. If people do not adhere to the medical-referral protocol, they will be obligated to go into quarantine on returning to Statia.
People of the following categories are allowed to enter Statia: returning medical referrals, essential workers for the government and private sector, returning Stacia residents and students after the school year. Business, touristic and family visits are only allowed from low-risk countries.
Other categories of persons coming from medium- and high-risk countries are not allowed to enter Statia. Exemptions on humanitarian grounds, such as, for example, to attend a funeral, can be made by the Government Commissioner. Outbound travel from Statia is always permitted, but returns are strictly reserved to the categories mentioned. All persons entering the island must be screened on entry.
Persons traveling from the very low-risk islands Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Kitts and Nevis do not have to go in quarantine. Medium-risk countries are Aruba, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and St. Maarten. Persons from these countries are allowed to quarantine at home under certain conditions.
Persons from high-risk countries such as the United States, the Dominican Republic, most South and Central American countries and the United Kingdom have to be quarantined.
The list of countries is valid until further notice and countries’ risk will be continuously monitored by the Public Health Department. To be excluded from the quarantine obligation persons must have been in a low-risk country for 14 consecutive days.
If a traveler wants to enter Statia from a medium- or high-risk country he / she has to make a request for entrance by email at
info.covid19@statiagov.com. The request for entrance needs to be received at least 72 hours before the planned date of arrival.
Anyone entering Statia needs to fill in a travel questionnaire, which can be downloaded at Statia government’s website. The form has to be sent to
info.covid19@statiagov.com at least 72 hours before arrival and a hard copy needs to be handed over on arrival.
All persons will be screened and Public Health can issue a quarantine obligation for every incoming person based on the screening results.
People returning from medium-risk countries can self-quarantine if the location has adequate and separate sanitary facilities for the people in quarantine. For returning students from medium-risk countries, parents have to sign a declaration of responsibility for their child. People in quarantine from high-risk countries will be tested after 12 days of quarantine. They can only leave quarantine after a negative test result.
The cost of staying in an assigned quarantine location has to be paid by the people themselves or their employer. The government will only cover the quarantine cost for returning medical referrals of Heath Insurance Office ZVK.
