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Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young has given a commitment that all systems will ready and in place for the reopening of borders in two weeks.
The borders will reopen from July 17 only to nationals and vaccinated non-nationals.
Young spoke to the media at Piarco International Airport, during a walk-through on Friday morning hosted by Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan.
He said, “One of the important things...is how we are going to handle our unvaccinated nationals who return, because we don’t want them mixing and interfacing and increasing the risk of spread.”
He reiterated guidelines announced by the Prime Minister last Saturday at a press conference on the way vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers will be processed.
Vaccinated travellers must present proof of being fully vaccinated using a World Health Organization-approved covid19 vaccine and a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before travel. After they are cleared on arrival, they will not be required to go into quarantine.
Children under 18 with a negative PCR test and in the company of fully vaccinated adults will not be required to go into quarantine.
The government will no longer cover the cost of state quarantine for returning nationals. Unvaccinated nationals are now required to pay for their accommodation in state-supervised quarantine.
“What they do is go through the same application process, say why they aren’t vaccinated – because there may be reasons for that – then provide a 72-hour negative PCR test.
"We are building out the system for these people to go into state-supervised quarantine, which has to be paid for. The IT system will manage that,” Young said.
“We are going to have a separate area to deal with nationals who are non-vaccinated, check their documents, there will be authorised companies to take them from the airport.
"Before arriving in Trinidad they must confirm with a paid booking for quarantine accommodation for 14 days.”
The money saved from covering the state quarantine bill will go towards other crucial areas.
Before TTrecorded its first covid19 case, the government advised citizens to travel only for essential and emergency purposes. The country closed its borders on March 21, 2020.
Even with the reopening of the borders in two weeks, Young said it is still important for citizens to remain cautious and travel only for essential purposes.
“Medical personnel tells us that’s the mood we should be in. But we are also realistic and recognise that people are going to be moving. That’s why I said to manage the risk and understand you’re still at risk (from) travelling.
“We expect vaccinated and non-vaccinated nationals to come and go, and what we are asking at this stage is for people to exercise caution. We are still in a global pandemic and there is still a lot of unknown where people can put themselves and others at risk.”
Over the past four months, some countries within the region introduced colour-coded wristbands with GPS technology to track the movements of unvaccinated travellers in reopening their borders to international travel.
While TT is not prepared to manage the risk of accepting unvaccinated non-nationals, discussions are ongoing to build a carefully detailed system to deal with people who fall into this category.
“There’s no need for bands or anything at this stage. We are going to manage this process and see how it goes.”
Young said there are plans to increase fines and penalties for returning unvaccinated nationals who breach quarantine protocols or those caught with false vaccination certificates.
Some of the changes travellers can expect include an improved IT information platform, upgrade to airport operations, and specially designed protocols in handling vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers.
Young and Sinanan spent several minutes relaying some of the reopening plans, during the walk-through, to immigration officials, Airport Authority staff, airport security, and representatives of various airlines.
Asked about plans to ensure airport staff remain safe, Young said many of them were among the frontline vaccinated groups, adding that additional precautionary safety measures will be implemented.
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