By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Tues. Aug. 10, 2021: A Caribbean country on Monday took the bold step of banning all cruise ships to the country.
The St. Kitts-Nevis government says it will not allow cruise ships into the twin island Federation until vaccination and testing protocols can be identified.
Tourism, Transport and Ports Minister, Lindsay Grant says he will not allow for the country’s health sector to be jeopardized especially since Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and the CDC are currently in an ongoing court battle to prevent the enforcing of guidelines that restrict the resumption of cruise homeporting in the state.
Grant noted that because Florida currently allows vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers to cruise and the twin island Federation has not yet achieved herd immunity, he is putting the ban in place.
“The government of St. Kitts and Nevis is trying to find a delicate balance between the economics and the health of our country. For the month of August, therefore, the calls of the Allure and Symphony of the Seas have been cancelled,” Grant said.
To date, the Seabourn Odyssey has made three separate calls to SKN, with the travel-approved bubble vaccination tours being very effective, according to a government statement.
St. Kitts-Nevis, which recently announced new measures to deal with a cluster of COVID cases, has recorded 620 positive cases and three deaths linked to the virus since the first case was recorded in March last year. There are 59 active cases with 1 listed as critical.
