(LOOP NEWS CARIBBEAN) – In a few days, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Heads of Government will conclude talks with an international supplier of PCR machines to determine if a facility can be established at their international airports to test travellers for COVID-19.
This was revealed by the OECS today as it reacted to an interview done by John Holland-Kaye, London Heathrow Chief Executive Officer, in the Travel Weekly.
In the interview, Holland-Kaye warned that UK aviation could suffer the same fate as London’s Docks if air travel cannot resume to a high number until a Covid-19 vaccine is available.
He recommended that testing takes place at UK airports and only COVID-19 free travellers be allowed to board a flight.
The OECS said: “While the OECS Authority is concerned about the prediction, we are heartened by the call which strengthens our own efforts internationally in seeking the establishment of PCR testing facilities at airports to ensure that every traveler is tested, and only persons who are deemed to be COVID-free will be allowed to board and travel.”
“We have been lobbying the governments of our major tourism source markets as well as the major airlines with flights to the Caribbean to work with us in the establishment of a rigorous testing regime to facilitate the reopening of safe air travel to the Caribbean.”
The group said member states are moving “quickly to facilitate safer travel for the tourism high season in October.”
The OECS noted that English-speaking Caribbean countries and territories, who are largely dependent on tourism, have had a strong record of effective management of the pandemic, with some of the lowest infection rates in the world.
