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St Lucia to lift curfew on Friday

Published:Tuesday | July 7, 2020 | 8:59 AM
Prime Minister of St Lucia, Allen Chastanet (photo contributed)

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Jul 7, CMC – The St Lucia government says it will on Friday lift the curfew that had been imposed as part of the measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet made the announcement on Monday night, as he updated the island on the response of his administration to the pandemic that had infected 22 people on the island.

"As of July 10 we no longer will have curfew hours in St. Lucia,” Chastanet said.

He also announced other measures, which he said would also come into effect as of July 10. They include the reopening of cinemas with proper protocols, the reopening of childhood development centres and the allowing of sports tournaments and contact sports with protocols for spectators.

Chastanet said the total number of persons who will be allowed is 200, regardless of how large the sports facility is and that attendees will be required to observe social distancing.

The Prime Minister said that reopening the borders has been the single most difficult decision he has had to make during his four years in office.

St. Lucia re-opened its international airport on June 4 and the government said it was introducing several new and updated protocols for arrivals from July 9.

Travelers will be required to obtain a negative PCR (Polymerized Chain Reaction) test within seven days of travel unless they are arriving from countries in the Travel Bubble designated by the St. Lucia government.

It said visitors traveling only from destinations that have zero or a low instance of COVID-19 cases will be exempt from the seven-day pre-testing requirement.

These destinations currently include Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Barthelemy, St.Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos.

Visitors with a travel history from these areas in the last 14 days will also be exempt from quarantine.

The government said that all returning citizens and residents must also complete the Pre-Arrival registration form.

“On arrival, they are required to quarantine for 14 days at a pre-approved home quarantine address, Government operated quarantine facility or a COVID-19 certified property”

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