Within the next two weeks Dominicans and residents stranded abroad because of COVID -19 will soon get the opportunity to be reunited with their family and loved ones.
Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that the country’s borders will reopen soon, though not fully.
“We intend to reopen the borders on a phased basis. So the first phase of the reopening will be for Dominican citizens and residents. We are looking at July 15th. So we have to be mindful of the fact that there are many Dominicans who went out for one reason or the other for funerals, for health reasons, for vacations and work, and would have gotten stuck.
“We are mindful of the hardships of COVID-19 that have been placed on so many Dominicans who continue to message me from as far as Texas, United Kingdom, and some other countries.
“The recommendation is for us to open up for Dominican citizens and residents on July 15th. So we are not opening up for everybody. We are not opening up for tourists and other visitors. We are opening up for Dominicans and residents only,” he stated on Tuesday evening on a local radio station.
Those returning home will have to be subjected to the various protocols as instituted by the ministry of health.
“We have a protocol as to how we will treat with Dominicans and residents returning home and the minister of health will give some details on that.
“One of the main things that we have to avoid in Dominica is for there to be a reason to shut down the country again. This would not be good for us. Therefore, we need to avoid this. Let me tell the Dominican public very sincerely, if it means that we have to keep Dominica close to the rest of the world until December, we will do so. As we have always done is to set aside the economic considerations because we do not want to have any more of this COVID-19 in Dominica,” he further stated.
According to the Prime Minister, the intention is to minimize the risks associated with reopening the island’s borders.
“We in Dominica have to appreciate that once you open up there are risks associated with opening up. What we are seeking to do as a government is to mitigate against the risks. We will never be able to eliminate it 100% but we are seeking to minimize the risk associated with the reopening,” he asserted.
The State of Emergency, which was in place, expired on June 30th,. It will not be continued.
The borders will reopen to non residents and nationals on August 7th according to Health Minister, Dr. Irving McIntyre.