OP
Update for Feb 19, 2022
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Bonaire has clearly passed the Omicron peak. No one is in the hospital as of today, and numbers look good.
Consequently, many restrictions are being relaxed, effective yesterday, Feb 18. Most will not affect tourists but some do, for example: restaurants and cafes are open until 2am and singing and dancing are now allowed outdoors; no restrictions on how many people can be in a store, although face masks are mandatory; and no more restrictions on how many can be seated together in a restaurant and facemasks are only mandatory indoors.
The US State Department uses the CDC rules for its Travel Advisories. Bonaire is listed (Dec 20, 2021 posting) as "Level 4: Do Not Travel", just like most of the world (see map below) and much of the Caribbean (second map below).
The CDC algorithm for assessing Risk Levels is different for countries with more than 100,000 population and for those smaller than 100,000 population; Bonaire's population is about 21,000. For the smaller countries, there are two criteria: (Primary) number of new cases in the last 28 days, (normalized to 100,000 population) and (Secondary) number of tests per 100,000 people in last 28 days. The threshold between Level 4 Risk and Level 3 Risk is 500 new dases in the last 28 days; the Level 3 to Level 2 Risk threshold is 100 cases. Bonaire peaked at around 3000 case count in late January, but has now dropped to about 1200. At its current rate of drop it will likely read the 500 case-count threshold around March 1. The Secondary criterion -- testing rate -- is well-met in Bonaire, so the Primary criterion -- case count -- is the real determinate for Bonaire's Risk Assessmetn in the eyes of the CDC and the US State Dept.
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Bonaire has clearly passed the Omicron peak. No one is in the hospital as of today, and numbers look good.
Consequently, many restrictions are being relaxed, effective yesterday, Feb 18. Most will not affect tourists but some do, for example: restaurants and cafes are open until 2am and singing and dancing are now allowed outdoors; no restrictions on how many people can be in a store, although face masks are mandatory; and no more restrictions on how many can be seated together in a restaurant and facemasks are only mandatory indoors.
The US State Department uses the CDC rules for its Travel Advisories. Bonaire is listed (Dec 20, 2021 posting) as "Level 4: Do Not Travel", just like most of the world (see map below) and much of the Caribbean (second map below).
The CDC algorithm for assessing Risk Levels is different for countries with more than 100,000 population and for those smaller than 100,000 population; Bonaire's population is about 21,000. For the smaller countries, there are two criteria: (Primary) number of new cases in the last 28 days, (normalized to 100,000 population) and (Secondary) number of tests per 100,000 people in last 28 days. The threshold between Level 4 Risk and Level 3 Risk is 500 new dases in the last 28 days; the Level 3 to Level 2 Risk threshold is 100 cases. Bonaire peaked at around 3000 case count in late January, but has now dropped to about 1200. At its current rate of drop it will likely read the 500 case-count threshold around March 1. The Secondary criterion -- testing rate -- is well-met in Bonaire, so the Primary criterion -- case count -- is the real determinate for Bonaire's Risk Assessmetn in the eyes of the CDC and the US State Dept.
