BELIZE CITY, Tues. Jan. 12, 2021– The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an order requiring all persons traveling to the United States to present a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of recovery from the virus before boarding vessels destined for the US. This new travel advisory comes amid a new spike in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States, which many have attributed to widespread traveling within the country over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Also, the new UK variant of the virus has found its way into the US and is now causing more widespread infections.
Belizean citizens and tourists traveling to and through the USA will have to be verified as COVID-19 negative through an approved test, or they must have a document, signed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, that indicates they have been cleared of COVID-19. This order goes into effect on January 26, 2021, at 12:01 a.m.
In response to the CDC’s issuance of this order, on January 14, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced its decision to expand testing to now include persons in Belize who are traveling to other countries. The release states, “the Ministry is in the final phase of preparation to ensure that COVID-19 PCR testing is available to persons departing the country.”
The Acting Director of Health Services (DHS), Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, has informed the public that testing sites will soon be available in the Belize District, in Belize City and San Pedro Town. They will also be available in San Ignacio in Cayo, and in Placencia village in the Stann Creek district. These COVID-19 tests will not be free. The Ministry of Health and Wellness will release a list of countrywide locations, phone numbers, and fees within the coming weeks.
According to the acting DHS, the advisory from the CDC does not require PCR tests for entry into the USA, so a rapid antigen test would suffice to meet the requirement. “Now with the CDC announcing that every person traveling, so every person going into the United States will need to present a negative test, they have specified if it needs to be a PCR test, which is good for us, because it actually says viral test, antigen test, and this is the rapid test.” Dr. Diaz-Musa shared.
Initially, this restriction by the US only applied to passengers entering that country from the United Kingdom. Now, however, all international passengers will be required to have the documentation of their negative test or proof of recovery before boarding a vessel or flight, since the specific airlines will be tasked to confirm these documents before embarkation. If a passenger refuses to take a test, they will be denied entry onboard the aircraft. Any person found to be COVID-19-positive will be refused entry.