No US travel restriction for Guyana

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony says flights from Guyana have not been restricted from entering the United States of America, although an advisory in that country has cautioned its citizens against travelling here.

The Minister made this statement during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update, in response to the Travel Health Notice sent out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which issues alerts about health threats.

“Well, the CDC has a scale that they’re using to classify countries, and if you go to the classification, you will see that most countries are actually on that highest level,” Minister Anthony said.

The Minister explained that the list has four levels showing the infection rate of countries from least to highest. These incidence rate reports are based on cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.

“In level one, you have less than five cases. Level two, between six to 50 cases. Level three, between 50 to 100 cases and level four, more than 100 cases over that 28 days per 100,000 population.

The reason why we have been classified along with other countries including Barbados and many other countries in the Caribbean, is because over the last one year, we would have seen more than 100 cases per 100,000 population. And if you are within those numbers then you’ll be classified as being in the highest tier.”

The CDC uses COVID-19 data reported by the World Health Organization and other official sources for its Travel Health Notices.

Guyana, like many other countries, also have strict measures in place at its Ports of Entries. The RT-PCR test is the number one requirement for entry into Guyana. Also, gazetted measures are in place for when persons are in public, to minimise the spread of Covid. These include mandatory masking, social distancing and frequent hand washing or sanitising. (Department of Public Information)