I guess the Delta agents in Atlanta who checked in members of my group last month but didn't ask for any test results or proof of vaccination were an anomaly. Or things change. Good to keep up the current reports. Thanks.
Covid surging in Bonaire
- Thread starter tursiops
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I guess the Delta agents in Atlanta who checked in members of my group last month but didn't ask for any test results or proof of vaccination were an anomaly. Or things change. Good to keep up the current reports. Thanks.
OP
There are a fair number of reports on Facebook Gruppen of people whose testing status was checked by their airline, and very few reports of non-checking.
scuba127
Contributor
Week before last Delta checked my PCR and they tried to tell me it had "expired." I've spoken to Bonaire Health about this and they told me the requirement, in the case of PCR, was within 48 hours from departure from airport of origin. I actually used the name of my home airport when I sent the email and the Atlanta airport for which I had an overnight stay. I practically had to draw the Delta agent a picture to convince them it had not expired. They kept looking at the time line and finally said I guess we'll just roll with it and let me on board. Got to Bonaire, showed them the PCR and they sent me on through no problem. Next time I'm taking the email from Bonaire Health with me.
OP
1 October update. I've been holding off updating because things looked prettty good for a while.....but it is looking worse now. First, the numbers:
The Government says the first September spike in the plot was from youngsters, but the second spike is from adults....effectively NONE of the new infections are among the vaccinated, and effectively ALL are from locals, not tourists. The second spike is still growing, so stay tuned.
What is surprising about this is that Bonaire has a very high rate of vaccinations. The plot below is for 18-years-old and older. The goal was 85% (about 16,000) with at least one shot...they were above 15000 in the middle of July; the increase is VERY slow now. Recently (first reports were in mid-August), 12-17 year olds are getting the shots...about 600 so far. One can only conclude that the rate of infection among the unvaccinated on Bonaire is very high.
Current restrictions on island have been extended to Nov 1, with the possibility of more stringent restrictions if the infection curves don't begin to fall. There have been two more deaths due to Covid in the last two weeks, bringing the number of deaths during the entire pandemic to 19. The biggest concern seems to be hospital space; both Curacao and Aruba are now "full" so Columbia has the next available hospital beds, if needed. It seems if more restrictions come on Bonaire during October, it will be to keep the number of folks hospitalized to a managable number.
Testing prior to arrival depends on where you are from, and whether you are fully vaccinated or not. The working plan is this; the U.S. and U.K. are "very high risk" but Canada and much of Europe is in "high risk."
Meanwhile, for visitors, things seem quite acceptable. Masks are worn in some stores, some restaurants are closed, food and meal take-out/delivery is popular, and diving is fine. There are obvious and at times inconvenient restrictions at dive facilties; for example, Buddy dive is not allowed to have camera rinse tanks on its boats.
The locals have done a good job of managing a bad situation. As the holiday crush begins this last Fall, one can only hope things will get better, and not worse.
What is surprising about this is that Bonaire has a very high rate of vaccinations. The plot below is for 18-years-old and older. The goal was 85% (about 16,000) with at least one shot...they were above 15000 in the middle of July; the increase is VERY slow now. Recently (first reports were in mid-August), 12-17 year olds are getting the shots...about 600 so far. One can only conclude that the rate of infection among the unvaccinated on Bonaire is very high.
Current restrictions on island have been extended to Nov 1, with the possibility of more stringent restrictions if the infection curves don't begin to fall. There have been two more deaths due to Covid in the last two weeks, bringing the number of deaths during the entire pandemic to 19. The biggest concern seems to be hospital space; both Curacao and Aruba are now "full" so Columbia has the next available hospital beds, if needed. It seems if more restrictions come on Bonaire during October, it will be to keep the number of folks hospitalized to a managable number.
Testing prior to arrival depends on where you are from, and whether you are fully vaccinated or not. The working plan is this; the U.S. and U.K. are "very high risk" but Canada and much of Europe is in "high risk."
Meanwhile, for visitors, things seem quite acceptable. Masks are worn in some stores, some restaurants are closed, food and meal take-out/delivery is popular, and diving is fine. There are obvious and at times inconvenient restrictions at dive facilties; for example, Buddy dive is not allowed to have camera rinse tanks on its boats.
The locals have done a good job of managing a bad situation. As the holiday crush begins this last Fall, one can only hope things will get better, and not worse.
Jersey
Contributor
Should be enroute. 
Currently sitting in PHL as Delta WOULD NOT let us board without a negative PCR test result in hand. Don’t know if all departure points and or all airlines are so stringent but Delta is checking that every i is dotted and t is crossed. Had my Bonaire Health declaration, had negative rapid test results in hand. (PCR results have not come back, was told 48 hrs, but that didn’t happen.) Talking to American to jump on their Weds flight. Currently out about $600 in tests. 2 people, 2 tests each. Will need a 3rd test, plus airfare plus losing time. This just sucks.
Currently sitting in PHL as Delta WOULD NOT let us board without a negative PCR test result in hand. Don’t know if all departure points and or all airlines are so stringent but Delta is checking that every i is dotted and t is crossed. Had my Bonaire Health declaration, had negative rapid test results in hand. (PCR results have not come back, was told 48 hrs, but that didn’t happen.) Talking to American to jump on their Weds flight. Currently out about $600 in tests. 2 people, 2 tests each. Will need a 3rd test, plus airfare plus losing time. This just sucks.
To tursiops’s points, this was online yesterday:
Speech by Lieutenant Governor Edison Rijna on September 30, 2021
Bon tardi everyone,
The COVID-19 situation on our island is serious. We have experienced two weekends in a row that a COVID patient has died. We sympathize with the families of the deceased.
Since the weekend, we have seen an increase in the number of COVID cases and not all sources are known yet. Public Health is aware that cases may increase. It is mainly unvaccinated adults who become infected with the virus. Today we have 120 active cases of COVID and 1 person has been hospitalized. We take into account that in the future we may have to send patients to hospitals outside Bonaire, because we do not have the necessary care here.
Public Health is working hard to get a good idea of where the sources of the infections are. Unfortunately, the department sometimes experiences that people do not want to cooperate in the source and contact investigation. I am sorry to hear that. These investigations are necessary to get the infections under control. If Public Health approaches you to participate in the resource and contact tracing, please cooperate. It is in the interest of all of us.
Together with Public Health, we are currently looking at whether the number of infections continues to increase and what that means for healthcare. After this evaluation, we will decide whether it is necessary to take further measures and we will inform you about this. For the time being, we will keep the current measures until November 1.
I will mention some of these measures. A maximum of 50 people may attend private meetings. There is still a maximum of 100 people for events. If you are going to a sporting event, follow the rules during and after the event. We need to be extra careful right now and take our responsibility. This way we can prevent the number of infections from increasing. Make sure you live a healthy life, that you get enough sleep and that you keep moving. For more information, visit our website bonairecrisis.com.
If you have not yet been vaccinated, get vaccinated. I would like to make a special appeal to people who are in a risk group, such as people with diabetes, or who are overweight, or people with heart problems, not to take any risks and get vaccinated. Call 0800 0900 to make an appointment. You can visit us every Saturday without an appointment from 09:00 to 14:00 for a corona jab. Let's continue to take good care of ourselves and those around us.
Speech by Lieutenant Governor Edison Rijna on September 30, 2021
Bon tardi everyone,
The COVID-19 situation on our island is serious. We have experienced two weekends in a row that a COVID patient has died. We sympathize with the families of the deceased.
Since the weekend, we have seen an increase in the number of COVID cases and not all sources are known yet. Public Health is aware that cases may increase. It is mainly unvaccinated adults who become infected with the virus. Today we have 120 active cases of COVID and 1 person has been hospitalized. We take into account that in the future we may have to send patients to hospitals outside Bonaire, because we do not have the necessary care here.
Public Health is working hard to get a good idea of where the sources of the infections are. Unfortunately, the department sometimes experiences that people do not want to cooperate in the source and contact investigation. I am sorry to hear that. These investigations are necessary to get the infections under control. If Public Health approaches you to participate in the resource and contact tracing, please cooperate. It is in the interest of all of us.
Together with Public Health, we are currently looking at whether the number of infections continues to increase and what that means for healthcare. After this evaluation, we will decide whether it is necessary to take further measures and we will inform you about this. For the time being, we will keep the current measures until November 1.
I will mention some of these measures. A maximum of 50 people may attend private meetings. There is still a maximum of 100 people for events. If you are going to a sporting event, follow the rules during and after the event. We need to be extra careful right now and take our responsibility. This way we can prevent the number of infections from increasing. Make sure you live a healthy life, that you get enough sleep and that you keep moving. For more information, visit our website bonairecrisis.com.
If you have not yet been vaccinated, get vaccinated. I would like to make a special appeal to people who are in a risk group, such as people with diabetes, or who are overweight, or people with heart problems, not to take any risks and get vaccinated. Call 0800 0900 to make an appointment. You can visit us every Saturday without an appointment from 09:00 to 14:00 for a corona jab. Let's continue to take good care of ourselves and those around us.
OP
So sorry, man. This is why the ID-NOW test is so desirable, if it can be found. Thanks for posting; beware to all those who are just hoping to blow it off and fly anyway.Should be enroute.
Jersey
Contributor
Yep, that was why I'm posting between my tears. Found out PHL DOES have the rapid PCR test, however only opens at 0730, so wouldn't have made the 0530 flight. Had I known about that option, we would've gotten the test at the airport in advance. I've used the same lab for 2 trips earlier this year where PCR was required within the same 48 hr window and was just fine. Results were back in less than 24 hrs, overnight > test at 2P, results by 8A the next morning. The mutation surge is impacting testing turn around times locally.
Booked on Weds American w/ a no penalty change ticket. At home trying to see if I can get us to Curacao tomorrow or Monday, then over to Bonaire on Divi air. Looks doable - Curacao is a direct shot, then 5 hrs layover until a puddle over to Bonaire. And of course our 3rd test, administered at the airport, the R-PCR and we don't leave without results, in writing, printed out in my hand.
@rmorgan - actually watched the press conference live streamed (not that I understood it all - English, Dutch, Papiamentu...) and read the release. I follow the news, watch the stats. I tried to do everything required. I had a plan, and a backup plan. Interestingly we got to the gate and my name was called, but not my hubs. (Think its because my passport expired earlier this year and I've not yet travelled on the new one.) That's when I was told I would not be able to board. Hub was not called, could have boarded, travelled on. I told him to go, I'd find my way (road warrior for many years). Except when he gets to boarding he tells the gate agent 'that's my wife, we have the same test-results, are you letting me fly?' So then they asked for his results. For being a rocket scientist sometime he not so smart. When we got home we called Bonaire and they confirmed had we arrived without the PCR results, they would have done the test right in the airport.
OP
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