cleomagic
Contributor
We flew back on Delta. The person at the gate did take our paperwork copy and have someone else look at it and that was it. The US CDC page is very clear that this type of tests meets US entry requirements.
Covid surging in Bonaire
- Thread starter tursiops
- Start date
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OP
eMed says that they are partnered with United, American, and Delta. They are also clear that the OTC BinaxNOW test is NOT suitable for use with the eMed proctoring; you MUST have the version supplied by eMed in a 6-pack or by Optum in a 2- or 3-pack. This is supposedly available from some pharmacies but I cannot find one that has it. The eMed graphic is:
OP
Covid Status Update
==============
Things were looking really good through August, then on Sept 1 there began to be some more infections. They peaked around Sept 8, dipped until Sept 19, rose again and peaked abut Oct 11, and are now falling again. The reports are that almost all of these are unvaccinated locals -- including children under the age of 12 -- many of who are refusing to provide contact information, which Lt Gov Rijna is upset about. He gave a speech yesterday saying that no serious measures need to be taken because the vaccination rates are good and slowly growing: 73.3% are fully vaccinated in the 18 years and older group, and 45.1% in the 12 to 8 years old group.
He also said: "In the near future we will start working with the corona pass, where a vaccination certificate, namely the QR code, or a negative test result is requested if someone wants to go to a certain event." This could be interesting if it extends to restaurants!
Vaccination and testing rules to enter Bonaire from the US have not changed. If fully vaccinated, one needs a NAAT test (PCR is one type of NAAT; Abbot Labs ID-NOW is accepted in Bonaire) within 48h of departure from your home, and a free antigen test on Day 5 of your stay; the Day 5 test is waived if your stay is less than 8 days. To re-enter the US, you need an antigen test (at your cost) within 3 days of heading home; that test suffices for the "day 5" test, which is way it is waived for those staying a week.
==============
Things were looking really good through August, then on Sept 1 there began to be some more infections. They peaked around Sept 8, dipped until Sept 19, rose again and peaked abut Oct 11, and are now falling again. The reports are that almost all of these are unvaccinated locals -- including children under the age of 12 -- many of who are refusing to provide contact information, which Lt Gov Rijna is upset about. He gave a speech yesterday saying that no serious measures need to be taken because the vaccination rates are good and slowly growing: 73.3% are fully vaccinated in the 18 years and older group, and 45.1% in the 12 to 8 years old group.
He also said: "In the near future we will start working with the corona pass, where a vaccination certificate, namely the QR code, or a negative test result is requested if someone wants to go to a certain event." This could be interesting if it extends to restaurants!
Vaccination and testing rules to enter Bonaire from the US have not changed. If fully vaccinated, one needs a NAAT test (PCR is one type of NAAT; Abbot Labs ID-NOW is accepted in Bonaire) within 48h of departure from your home, and a free antigen test on Day 5 of your stay; the Day 5 test is waived if your stay is less than 8 days. To re-enter the US, you need an antigen test (at your cost) within 3 days of heading home; that test suffices for the "day 5" test, which is way it is waived for those staying a week.
The real question is how many of those unvaccinated infected cases were more than mild and what is the size of the unvaccinated population who is at significant risk to have a more than mild case.
OP
You could probably get the answers to those questions by emailing publichealth@Bonairegov.com
OP
Update
=========
As @rmorgan posted in another thread, the big news for US travelers is that after Nov 1, US travelers will NOT need to get the heretofore mandatory "day 5" antigen test. This was not needed anyway for stays of one week, but for longer stays this is a nice change.
Meanwhile, the infections on the island are beginning to come back down and stay down; let's hope it lasts.
The level 2 on-island restrictions on activities will be maintained at least until Dec 2. Partly, this is due to the number of hospitalized people and there being not that many ICU beds (3) nor ventilators (7) available. Today the report is six in the Bonaire hospital (one in ICU), and one each in Curacao and Aruba.
Vaccinations continue, but slowly. The report from 23 October is 83.8% of the 18-years old and older group has at least one shot, and 55.7% of the 12-17 years old group has at least one shot.
--------end of update---------
--------continue with additional information re testing-------------
Right now the most awkward aspect of getting to Bonaire from the US is the requirements for an NAAT (includes PCR) test within 48h of departure from your home -- if you are vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, then the requirement is a NAAT test within (a) 24h before departure OR (b) within 48h but plus an antigen test upon arrival at the Bonaire airport.
Most seem to be having problems getting the 48h test; the usual (slow) PCR test is often advertised as 1-4d for the results to arrive by email, but the reality seems to be kind of flaky. Sometimes the test results never even arrive. Two common work-arounds: (1) get the Abbott Labs ID-NOW test, which has about an hour turnaround, and (b) get the (slow) PCR test but if the results haven't come, get a VERY expensive test at the airport at the last minute. Problems with these work-arounds: (1) although the Bonaire Public Health Dept has been queried many times on this, some of the airline gate agents are not aware that the ID-NOW test is acceptable for entry to Bonaire. If they argue, all you can do is show all the paperwork including copies of emails from Bonaire Public Health. (2) The very expensive ($250 is not unusual) at-airport test may also be an ID-NOW test, so you ar back to problem (1).
Walgreens in many areas used to have the ID-NOW test readily available; now supplies seem to be more limited. BEWARE anyone advertising a "rapid test;" that might be an antigen test, and that is NOT acceptable to Bonaire. You need a "diagnostic" test. Do not misinterpret "RT-PCR" as meaning real-time PCR; it does not, it means "reverse-transcription PCR" and is not fast.
NOTE1 : the use of "rapid" is confusing and should be avoided. it is (too) often used as synonymous with "antigen," which will not get you into Bonaire. You are looking for a "fast" test, not a "rapid" test!
NOTE 2: The CDC describes NAAT tests here. The ID-NOW technology is described here: "The ID NOW system is a point-of-care (POC) device that uses an isothermal nucleic acid amplification technique to allow for nucleic acid amplification without thermal cyclers and allows for results to be obtained quickly. The ID NOW SARS-CoV-2 assay (Abbott) amplifies a unique region of the RdRp genome with a manufacturer’s claimed limit of detection (LOD) of 125 genome equivalents/mL. The isothermal technique allows for positive results to be available as soon as 5 min into the assay, and negative results within 13 min." The point is, ID-NOW is indeed NAAT, but it is not PCR. PCR is just one kind of NAAT.
If you are able to get the ID-NOW test from Walgreens (CVS does not offer it), the results come by email from "pwnhealth" with two attachments; one is called "Easy Read PDF" and the other is called "Lab PDF." only the Lab PDF says "IDNOW COVID-19 rapid diagnostic test (nucleic acid amplification test NAAT)" which is the issue; it says NAAT but not PCR....because it is NOT a PCR test, but rather a different kind of NAAT test, which is fine with Bonaire....but maybe not the AA or DL or UA gate agent. Try a supervisor, don't give up. Show the CDC pages, show the ID-NOW pages; show an email from Bonaire Public Health if you have one.
It's all worth it once you get to Bonaire.
=========
As @rmorgan posted in another thread, the big news for US travelers is that after Nov 1, US travelers will NOT need to get the heretofore mandatory "day 5" antigen test. This was not needed anyway for stays of one week, but for longer stays this is a nice change.
Meanwhile, the infections on the island are beginning to come back down and stay down; let's hope it lasts.
The level 2 on-island restrictions on activities will be maintained at least until Dec 2. Partly, this is due to the number of hospitalized people and there being not that many ICU beds (3) nor ventilators (7) available. Today the report is six in the Bonaire hospital (one in ICU), and one each in Curacao and Aruba.
Vaccinations continue, but slowly. The report from 23 October is 83.8% of the 18-years old and older group has at least one shot, and 55.7% of the 12-17 years old group has at least one shot.
--------end of update---------
--------continue with additional information re testing-------------
Right now the most awkward aspect of getting to Bonaire from the US is the requirements for an NAAT (includes PCR) test within 48h of departure from your home -- if you are vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, then the requirement is a NAAT test within (a) 24h before departure OR (b) within 48h but plus an antigen test upon arrival at the Bonaire airport.
Most seem to be having problems getting the 48h test; the usual (slow) PCR test is often advertised as 1-4d for the results to arrive by email, but the reality seems to be kind of flaky. Sometimes the test results never even arrive. Two common work-arounds: (1) get the Abbott Labs ID-NOW test, which has about an hour turnaround, and (b) get the (slow) PCR test but if the results haven't come, get a VERY expensive test at the airport at the last minute. Problems with these work-arounds: (1) although the Bonaire Public Health Dept has been queried many times on this, some of the airline gate agents are not aware that the ID-NOW test is acceptable for entry to Bonaire. If they argue, all you can do is show all the paperwork including copies of emails from Bonaire Public Health. (2) The very expensive ($250 is not unusual) at-airport test may also be an ID-NOW test, so you ar back to problem (1).
Walgreens in many areas used to have the ID-NOW test readily available; now supplies seem to be more limited. BEWARE anyone advertising a "rapid test;" that might be an antigen test, and that is NOT acceptable to Bonaire. You need a "diagnostic" test. Do not misinterpret "RT-PCR" as meaning real-time PCR; it does not, it means "reverse-transcription PCR" and is not fast.
NOTE1 : the use of "rapid" is confusing and should be avoided. it is (too) often used as synonymous with "antigen," which will not get you into Bonaire. You are looking for a "fast" test, not a "rapid" test!
NOTE 2: The CDC describes NAAT tests here. The ID-NOW technology is described here: "The ID NOW system is a point-of-care (POC) device that uses an isothermal nucleic acid amplification technique to allow for nucleic acid amplification without thermal cyclers and allows for results to be obtained quickly. The ID NOW SARS-CoV-2 assay (Abbott) amplifies a unique region of the RdRp genome with a manufacturer’s claimed limit of detection (LOD) of 125 genome equivalents/mL. The isothermal technique allows for positive results to be available as soon as 5 min into the assay, and negative results within 13 min." The point is, ID-NOW is indeed NAAT, but it is not PCR. PCR is just one kind of NAAT.
If you are able to get the ID-NOW test from Walgreens (CVS does not offer it), the results come by email from "pwnhealth" with two attachments; one is called "Easy Read PDF" and the other is called "Lab PDF." only the Lab PDF says "IDNOW COVID-19 rapid diagnostic test (nucleic acid amplification test NAAT)" which is the issue; it says NAAT but not PCR....because it is NOT a PCR test, but rather a different kind of NAAT test, which is fine with Bonaire....but maybe not the AA or DL or UA gate agent. Try a supervisor, don't give up. Show the CDC pages, show the ID-NOW pages; show an email from Bonaire Public Health if you have one.
It's all worth it once you get to Bonaire.
This may have been mentioned already. Per the CDC's website, the entry requirement for all passengers entering the United States, as of November 8, 2021, varies with vaccination status:
"Testing – ALL Travelers
Before boarding a flight to the United States, you are required to show one of the following:- If you are fully vaccinated: Proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 3 days before travel.
- If you are NOT fully vaccinated: A negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 1 day before travel."
Josh the diver
Contributor
Only from Nov 8…
Thank you for writing this, it is immensely helpful.
I am flying from NYC (EWR) and stressing out about my testing options. Contemplating getting rapid test in the airport for $180 in addition to whatever I might get before because that beats stressing out about whether I will have results of not. I wonder how much they charge for a no-show.
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