(Pointe Xpress)-Antigua and Barbuda is not likely to impose a travel ban on visitors arriving from the United Kingdom despite the decision of several Caribbean territories to do so over fears concerning a mutated strain of the COVID-19 virus that was discovered in the United Kingdom in September.
The Ministry of Health is holding a press conference later today in which the country’s official position on the matter will be made known.
Although health officials remain tight-lipped on the issue ahead of the press conference however, reliable sources informed PointeXpress that Antigua and Barbuda will not close its borders to visitors from the United Kingdom.
One source said the country will focus its energy on ‘managing the risk’ associated with the virus as it has been doing since the start of the pandemic and the reopening of its borders on June 1.
A second source noted that after several European countries announced they would close their borders to the UK, the European Commission issued a directive for these borders to reopen.
The source said Antigua and Barbuda will take a more guarded approach and will monitor the situation in the UK closely for a while longer.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus was found in the UK that is over seventy percent more infectious than the strain of the virus that started the pandemic.
Johnson announced tighter restrictions in the UK, especially in the south of the country.
Grenada and Jamaica were the first English speaking Caribbean territories to announce restrictions against UK travelers.
There are fears that the new strain of the virus could move beyond the UK which has seen a spike in infections in recent months.
Scientists believe that the approved vaccines will be equally effective against the new strain of the virus as it is against the original virus.
While the mutated virus is said to spread faster, nothing presently suggests that it is more deadly.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has received no new COVID-19 positive reports from the Mount St. John’s Medical Center (MSJMC) or the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) as of Monday 21st December 2020.
One new recovered case has been recorded bringing that total to one hundred and forty-four.
Consequently, the total number of persons with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases in Antigua and Barbuda remains at one hundred and fifty-three (153) which is inclusive of four (4) active cases.
The dashboard has been updated to reflect the changes to the government’s quarantine and self-quarantine columns of the dashboard.
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This greedy government has declined to protect lives all year
Antigua is officially the worst country in the Caribbean because of her 🤡 leadership
Indeed! I am not surprised a bunch of 🤡 and greedy people sickening but they will continue to put tracking bracelets on Antiguans.
Are you surprised ?
Seems someone needs to remind PM clown of that.
You fraid de virus…you fraid it bad…but luk de virus right in yu yard! Just a twist to that song by a calypsonian many years ago.
A little good humor in this time cannot hurt.
Truth be told: covid-19 is only a test run. The BIGGER STUFF ARE YET TO COME ! As mankind continue to run bolt speed down the road of corruption, greed and selfishness, then we will can only reap the fruits of our dangerous lifestyles.
Do not anticipate things to get better in the short run. No politrickian…no religious leader…. no human can bring us out of the mess we have created on this earth. The short term future for humanity as a whole is VERY BLEAK ! THAT IS NOT JUST FACT…. BUT SIMPLE, HARD, TRUTH !
2020 is year we wish could just be erased from the history books, but that will not be. DARKER days are yet to come.
2021 and beyond will be the time of CLIMATE CHANGE ! SERIOUS CHANGES THAT WILL BRING ABOUT DRASTIC CHANGES THAT WE CANNOT EVEN DREAM TO IMAGINE NOW.
These are the times of sorrows. The heart of man will only get more corrupt and selfish.
However, There is still HOPE ! The Creator will not allow us to eradicate ourselves from this planet.
When we have reached the end of the rope and realize that mankind just CANNOT SOLVE OUR OWN PROBLEMS….. then some will turn to the only source of our redemption.
It is time to wake up from our vanities and evil:
WORLD “CRYSIS”: THE END SOON COME !
I welcome this news. Let’s continue to protect ourselves as much as possible.
SMH
The most dangerous virus has infected and affected all of mankind for thousands of years. It is the SIN VIRUS: of greed, selfishness, corruption, hatred, pride, vanity, immorality…..and the list goes on.
No one is immune from this virus. All have been infected and the symptoms and fatalities of this virus have been with us for all generations. No scientists, doctors, politrickians, psychologists, or religious leader have the vaccine or cure for this virus.
Look around: wars, rapes, violence, divorce, sexual immorality, drug abuse, natural disasters, ……. too numerous to list. These are the symptoms of the SIN Virus.
The only solution to this virus is found in the Creator.
Mankind has rejected the only vaccine that can stop all the evils on this planet.
When Toyota builds a vehicle, the company sends a manual with the product. In the same way, the Creator has given us an instruction manual, but we have completely rejected that and instead attempt to solve problems that are beyond our capacity to even mitigate. It is just pure madness !
The SIN virus is real and as it penetrates the heart of mankind, we can only conclude that the short term future of this world is VERY DARK. THAT IS COLD, HARD TRUTH !
The politrickians cannot help you. Politics is the science of deception. As the politrickians go to parliament to formulate laws to govern societies; they; behind closed doors manipulate ways to break those laws themselves. Creative enrichment is one scheme they devised.
As 2020, draws to a close, I am making an appeal to the people of Antigua & Barbuda: take a good look at our lives. Stop allowing the politrickians to mislead you. The RED, BLUE, GREEN politricks: what good have they brought you ?
2020 should be a year of soul searching and realizing that the philosophy of man is infected with the sin virus. It cannot solve our problems.
I must be plain and truthful: Covid-19 is only a small start of wilder things to come on this earth. As the saying goes: : we haven’t seen anything yet”
This is not to scare anyone….but rather to motivate us to examine our ways and make that change now.
Hope knocks at the door. We cannot expect to think and live the way we have been and get good results. That is highly pathetic. Cause and Effect never die. Every choice brings a consequence. We reap what we have sown.
Is that too difficult to understand ?
We need to learn the truth. Bob Marley’s song: “redemption song”, speaks about mental slavery. The sad part is that we are not capable of emancipating ourselves from that mental slavery. The human mind is too much infected with the SIN virus. Real emancipation from this can ONLY come from The CREATOR.
TRUTH IS HARD TO INGEST, DIGECT AND ASSIMILATE. IT HURTS….BUT IT ALSO SAVES !
WORLD “CRYSIS”: WAKE UP, MY PEOPLE: FACE THE TRUTH AND CHANGE YOUR MINDS
Covidiots out like mosqutio after rain. Dem to want Antigua fu over run wid covid but dem nar get dem wish!!
All this article demonstrates is how powerful these first world countries are and how the voices of third world countries don’t matter for nutin…. It’s a sorry state of affairs. Man I need to leave Antigua.
Go right ahead weakling. Leave! You won’t be missed.
But it seems like just every other island is doing a better job at handling this pandemic than Antigua is.
Don’t let the door hit u on the way out. One less covidiot in Antigua
The Country is broke.They need the visitors to spend monies into the economy.They would go on tours around the island.Eat at local restaurants and buy things in the local shops around the island.The Administration is caught between a rock and a hard place.By the way.When you purchased tickets here in the USA to fly to Antigua.The Government in Antigua makes money from the purchases of those tickets.I do not know.How it works when travelling from the UK into Antigua.I come to Antigua every year.There is a tax for the Airport in the airfare.
Just wear your masks,wash hands and stay away from large crowds.That should help,if we all follow those golden rules as it pertains to Covid-19
but why u dont do the same with dominican republic dont worry election coming we are awaiting for all you
The economic powerhouse of the Caribbean. What a joke. St Kitts and Nevis has managed their economy so well that they were able to provide stimulus to their citizens and are now protecting their citizens by banning British Airways until January in order to assess the situation. Why is Antigua In such a desperate situation that they can’t ban British Airways for at least a month, given the recent imported cases in Barbados?
Tourists come to Antigua. The government couldn’t care less about its citizens. Just come and bring the money.
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