Covid surging in Bonaire

[tursiops]

Additional info:
Bonaire Public Health confirmed today that post Nov 30 all NAAT tests (e.g., ID NOW) are acceptable for 48h pre-departure testing, not just PCR tests (one type of NAAT). Good news.

 

[tursiops]

The official rules came out today. NAAT is OK, and the testing requirements ARE different for the various risk-level countries. One has to wonder about China as a "very low risk" country, and Singapore as a "very high-risk" country!

Some corrections are needed to posts #662 and #670 above, because the new rules implementation is not quite what the Lt Gov said in his speech...

• the requirement for face masks in public indoor spaces means public buildings like Gov buildings, not buildings the public can enter, like grocery stores and dive shops; that will be the individual discretion of the store/shop owner
• not all all those entering will need to be tested; it depends on the risk-level of their country

 

[scubadada]

Additional info:
Bonaire Public Health confirmed today that post Nov 30 all NAAT tests (e.g., ID NOW) are acceptable for 48h pre-departure testing, not just PCR tests (one type of NAAT). Good news.

It's been that way for a while, i.e. NAAT acceptable. We used Abbott ID Now for our arrival on October 20. We had our results in a couple of hours, day before leaving. Significant change in dropping the day 5 antigen test for visitors from the US, downgrade from very high risk to high risk status.

Mask use was not common indoors, about a third of people in the grocery store, not required in the dive shop. We wore masks in the store. We did not eat out. Most public signage mentions distancing and hand hygiene, not masking. We are both fully vaccinated and boosted. We generally felt safe, spent most of our time diving or in our apartment. Our US return antigen test went smoothly and quickly

We'll do it again once or twice next year

 

[tursiops]

It's been that way for a while, i.e. NAAT acceptable.

Yes, but my point was that Rijna's speech on Friday only mentioned PCR in the new rules.

 

[tursiops]

Update
===========================
The latest infection surge might now be over; at least. it is diminishing at about the rate that the previous surges have diminished. The situation is still not back to what it was pre-September.

The Dec 11 report from the government on BonaireCrisis.com was interesting. It pointed out that 83% of the COVID patients in the Bonaire ICU over the last 3 months have not been vaccinated. Of those who simply end up in the hospital, but not the ICU, 73% have not been vaccinated. And, "An infected vaccinated person stays there for an average of three days when admitted to hospital. This is eight days for a person who is not or not fully vaccinated. About 33% of unvaccinated patients with COVID stay there longer than 14 days when admitted to the hospital." Finally, the report says the source of infections during the previous week was only known in about a third of the cases, and of that portion over 70% occured at school or at home.

Vaccinations
Vaccinations on the island are still proceeding slowly. As of Dec 12, the summary plot is:

Incident Rate and Threat Health Notice Level
One statistic often tracked internationally is the rate of infections per 100k residents, called Incidence Rate, averaged over the previous 7 days. For Bonaire, this is now about 400 infections per 100k population. For comparison, Aruba and Curacao are both under 100; the US is about 6k to 22k, depending on the state. But this is an awkward statistic for a small island with only about 22k residents, but it does give a chance for comparisons. It is also the main statistics used by the US CDC to determine the risk level for travel to a country that has MORE than 100k population; the secondary statistic is testing rate.

For smaller countries, however, the primary factor is Case Count over the previous 28 days; that is, incidence Rate is NOT used for the smaller countries, just Case Count and testing rate. At this moment, Bonaire is just barely in Threat Health Notice (THN) Level 4 (the worst), due to the large number of infections in the last 28 days. But it will likely drop to THN 3 in the next few day. It turns out that the testing rate in Bonaire is quite good, so the key indicator for its THN level is simply its Case Count over the previous 28 days.

 

[rmorgan]

In response to the coming Omicron who-knows-what, Bonaire is amping up entry requirements for almost all travelers, U.S. and Netherlands included, and mandating quarantine for unvaccinated travelers. What follows is from BES-reporter.com and the translation appears to be imperfect; official clarification will of course follow.

“Kralendijk – All travelers aged 12 years and older from the Netherlands and the US must take a PCR test within forty-eight hours before departure to Bonaire and a self-test on arrival beginning Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Travelers will receive a free self-test, they must register on the day of arrival at their holiday accommodation. If they test positive, they must make an appointment in isolation and with the Public Health Department to retest. Bonaire is tightening travel conditions to the island to delay the arrival of the omikron variant.

Due to the rapid spread of the omikron variant, all high-risk countries will be equated with very high-risk countries from 22 December 2021. This also applies to the Netherlands and the US. From next Wednesday, all travelers from high or very high-risk countries will be obliged to perform a PCR test on the fifth day after arrival at their own expense at a commercial testing company, not at the Public Health Department.

Unvaccinated travelers from high or very high risk countries are required to self-quarantine for five days. After that, they have to do a PCR test at their own expense at a commercial testing company, not at the Public Health Department. A traveler can only be released from quarantine with a negative test result. All travelers who test positive must be in isolation.

It has become clear in recent days that the omikron variant is spreading faster than people thought. The Public Health Department stated a while ago that it is not a question of whether this variant will come to Bonaire, but when. With the omikron variant spreading rapidly, the stricter travel conditions should delay the arrival of this variant to the island.

The department hopes that while waiting for the omikron variant, as many people as possible will get the corona jab and the booster jab. For example, Bonaire is better protected when the new variant appears on the island.

At the moment not everything is known about the omikron variant. Scientists do know that this variant spreads two to three times faster than the delta variant. This means that the pressure on the hospital and the rest of the healthcare sector can increase considerably when the new variant is on Bonaire.

That is why the Public Health Department calls on citizens of Bonaire to get vaccinated. The department also calls on fully vaccinated citizens to get the booster shot as soon as possible.

Have you not yet passed the first or second corona vaccine? Then call the free number 0800 0900 to make an appointment for an injection. You have been fully vaccinated and have not yet received the booster shot? Call the free number 0800 0900 and make an appointment for the booster shot. Do you have any complaints? Then call 0800 0800 for a test appointment.”

 

[tursiops]

In response to the coming Omicron who-knows-what, Bonaire is amping up entry requirements for almost all travelers, U.S. and Netherlands included, and mandating quarantine for unvaccinated travelers. What follows is from BES-reporter.com and the translation appears to be imperfect; official clarification will of course follow.

“Kralendijk – All travelers aged 12 years and older from the Netherlands and the US must take a PCR test within forty-eight hours before departure to Bonaire and a self-test on arrival beginning Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Travelers will receive a free self-test, they must register on the day of arrival at their holiday accommodation. If they test positive, they must make an appointment in isolation and with the Public Health Department to retest. Bonaire is tightening travel conditions to the island to delay the arrival of the omikron variant.

Due to the rapid spread of the omikron variant, all high-risk countries will be equated with very high-risk countries from 22 December 2021. This also applies to the Netherlands and the US. From next Wednesday, all travelers from high or very high-risk countries will be obliged to perform a PCR test on the fifth day after arrival at their own expense at a commercial testing company, not at the Public Health Department.

Unvaccinated travelers from high or very high risk countries are required to self-quarantine for five days. After that, they have to do a PCR test at their own expense at a commercial testing company, not at the Public Health Department. A traveler can only be released from quarantine with a negative test result. All travelers who test positive must be in isolation.

It has become clear in recent days that the omikron variant is spreading faster than people thought. The Public Health Department stated a while ago that it is not a question of whether this variant will come to Bonaire, but when. With the omikron variant spreading rapidly, the stricter travel conditions should delay the arrival of this variant to the island.

The department hopes that while waiting for the omikron variant, as many people as possible will get the corona jab and the booster jab. For example, Bonaire is better protected when the new variant appears on the island.

At the moment not everything is known about the omikron variant. Scientists do know that this variant spreads two to three times faster than the delta variant. This means that the pressure on the hospital and the rest of the healthcare sector can increase considerably when the new variant is on Bonaire.

That is why the Public Health Department calls on citizens of Bonaire to get vaccinated. The department also calls on fully vaccinated citizens to get the booster shot as soon as possible.

Have you not yet passed the first or second corona vaccine? Then call the free number 0800 0900 to make an appointment for an injection. You have been fully vaccinated and have not yet received the booster shot? Call the free number 0800 0900 and make an appointment for the booster shot. Do you have any complaints? Then call 0800 0800 for a test appointment.”

This all says PCR....but in the past when they said PCR they have meant NAAT (PCR is just one type of NAAT). On-island, PCR actually means PCR, but in the US, PCR is either very expensive or takes some time to get results, so NAAT (such as ID-NOW) is available and is acceptable for entry to Bonaire.

What is clear is that it is increasingly stupid to go to Bonaire if you are unvaccinated; it is stupid for yourself and for those around you. For fully vaccinated folks you get to take an extra PCR test on Day 5 (arrival day is Day Zero). That test is about $125. The Day 5 test unfortunately will not satisfy the CDC requirement to reenter the US, which must be the day before you depart, i.e. Day 6 for a 7-day trip. In the past, when they had a Day 5 testing requirement, they let it slip to Day 6 for one-week visitors for just this reason, then eliminated it entirely. Time will tell.

 

[tridacna]

Stupid choice for second test. Make it day 6 and you’d make it so much more convenient for US travelers who generally spend a week there. Mexico just looks better and better.

 

[tursiops]

Stupid choice for second test. Make it day 6 and you’d make it so much more convenient for US travelers who generally spend a week there. Mexico just looks better and better.

They are probably not going to change many rules for us. We are not the majority of visitors....in fact, we are only about 20-22% of visitors, based on the most recent stats I've seen, and not all of us stay for just one week.

 

[rmorgan]

For fully vaccinated folks you get to take an extra PCR test on Day 5 (arrival day is Day Zero). That test is about $125. The Day 5 test unfortunately will not satisfy the CDC requirement to reenter the US, which must be the day before you depart, i.e. Day 6 for a 7-day trip.

Tursiops, I read this as 5-day PCR for unvaccinated only, with preflight PCR and free antigen tests on arrival for vaccinated.