The Ministry of Tourism and all entities that fall under its remit, along with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, are doing everything to ensure that locals and visitors are kept safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, stressed this last evening, during a press conference held at Ilaro Court.
“One of the most important messages that we would want to share with Barbados today, above all else, we are supporting our economy; we are supporting our tourism industry, but we are not doing so, at the expense of the health of either our guests, or Barbadians.
“And certainly, from the Ministry of Tourism perspective, we are not filling beds in hotels at the expense of having to increase beds in our hospitals and beds in our isolation facilities. And we want to ensure that all of our guests feel fully confident that our health services and our health officials who are working 24 hours a day in service to you and in service to Barbadians, that we have your best interest and your health and well-being at heart, and we give that commitment to Barbados because that is who we are.”
Senator Cummins also disclosed that the Ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Health on a number of matters, including putting plans in place to allow for a safe and efficient airport transition for passengers, in keeping with the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 protocols, as well as ensuring that persons who have their second test are accommodated as efficiently and safely as possible.
Noting that there have been some challenges in returning persons’ second PCR test results in the stipulated 24-hour turnaround time, Minister Cummins pointed out that the reason for some of those challenges had been identified, and gave the commitment that everything is being done to return test results in a reasonable time frame.
“We allow persons when they have completed their tests and completed their quarantine to then enter our wider community, having been given the assurance that they are COVID-19 negative,” she added.