TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI will go into complete lockdown

No one coming in and no one going out. Complete lockdown.

What about cargo (staples such as food)?

Cargo allowed in but no travellers either way.

Have there been any confirmed COVID-19 cases in the BVI yet? I haven't seen any reported.

2 Just reported.

Complete lockdown? And for how long?

Seems they couldn't keep that up for too long being a tourism economy.

Just 6 days to begin with but then again it was only 14 days to begin with. Once the navy arrives it will extend to 2 weeks I think. We are not allowed out of the property from Friday 8pm till April 2nd

A curfew went into effect last night. You cannot leave your house from 8pm until 6am. Starting this Friday at 8pm, it is a 24-hour curfew for 6 days. Meaning, no one can leave their homes at all for the next 6 days. And that will probably be more. I think this even means going grocery shopping, but I'm not sure. We are waiting for the Premier to speak today.

Previously, there was already a travel ban in place. And that obviously remains. No one was allowed in by air or sea regardless of if you are a belonger, resident or tourist.

Sad times. Keep us advised. Stay safe.

We left just in time but worry about our friends and neighbours still there. These are even more extreme rulings than we have here in California. We cn shop from very well equipped stores and get takeout from many restaurants..Please stay safe everyone..if this nightmare dwindles by summer we need a big island party!

How does shopping work? Few households have supplies for 6 days...

I went to the grocery stores here on Virgin Gorda this morning. They were limiting customers into the stores (20 at a time or so) and there were lines outside Bucks, Riteway and SupaValu. We skipped Bucks and Riteway due to the lines and went to Rosie's and SupaValu instead. We found everything we needed and are well stocked. It was busy and there was definitely a sense of urgency, but everyone was respectful and still had the island spirit. "Good morning", "Good afternoons" etc. Plenty of toilet paper and paper towel to go around. And Rosie's had a truck full of groceries ready to be stocked as we were leaving. So far, there is still plenty of food and no one is panicking. At least on Virgin Gorda, cannot speak for Tortola or other islands.

I do not know if grocery stores will be open for this 6-day lock-down. All I have heard so far is it is a "24-hour curfew".

We also have a friend dropping off a case of 6 bottles of wine for us this afternoon. The girlfriend and I will be doing a bit of a wine tasting over the lockdown!

The "14-day travel lockdown" did not apply to Port Purcell and shipping. I do not know the plan for the 6 day lockdown period, however.

Hi.. RTW had a notice up saying that even with a government shutdown they would remain operational. I have been isolating on JVD for a week and am preparing to spend a good 2-3 weeks at home. So far we don't seem to have huge shortages in Tortola except for a few items (fresh ginger roots, garlic).

I think they made the lock down decision pretty quickly (2 cases announced around 2 or 3pm yesterday and then a live announcement about the curfew at 7pm). I understand that HOA is meeting and my guess is there will be more announcement about protocol, etc.

24hr lockdown no shopping after Friday 8pm till 2nd April , RTW is open for essential workers only

Thats for sure !!! I fear we are in for a few more months of madness sadly . I would jump for joy if this is over by summer . Sadly Covid isn't scared off by heat like seasonal flu

Not surprised at this....BVI strong ...and always sensible and kind , shortage of ginger not toilet paper ....imagine that !!..enjoy your wine but pace yourself

Ginger MIA, garlic short supply and lemon. At least it makes sense. I went on Thursday and couldn't deal with RTW so I just went to the old big ben's in west end. Everyone -workers and customers -super kind/polite in store.

Lock down the government and let the businesses take the reins

I didn't see the answer above but I believe they've now seen 2 cases. I'm REALLY hoping the early lockdowns for people coming in and also islander movement keep that total down.

The BVI government is doing a fantastic job during this time, locked the country down quick, quarantined everyone for 6days to start to slow the spread and yes only2 conformed cases, 1 from Europe 1 from the US.

There are a million opinions but I am not sure the lockdown they imposed will be a good long term solution. At some point they will have to reopen the country. The virus is not going away. I think current medical opinion is try and keep the number of cases manageable while herd immunity builds up and it essentially becomes another flu variation. When they do reopen I suspect they will get a spike in cases. The quick testing options coming out might mitigate this to a extent. I don’t see that they can isolate until a vaccine is available.

George, I suspect the policy recognizes that the BVI healthcare system is inadequate in the best of times. With additional time perhaps they can ramp up the supplies, equipment and staff to cope with the inevitable increase in cases.

Bank of Asia is providing supplies and they've asked for Cuban medical staff. When the new clinic opened on Virgin Gorda, the government couldn't afford to equip it, so I assume there is still a lack of ventilators and other equipment.

3rd case confirmed today. He was a traveler from an infected country.

Herd immunity only works when someone in the herd has immunity there is no immunity to this Corona Virus as its genetics come from animals we have no immunity thats why it is spreading so fast.

The government has caught it in time unlike other countries that now have it out of control.

The BVI can wait till the curve flattens in the rest of the world what it can not do it have a spike which is happening in most countries.

Stay safe.

"Herd immunity only works when someone in the herd has immunity there is no immunity to this Corona Virus as its genetics come from animals we have no immunity thats why it is spreading so fast."

Those who've been infected with COVID-19 and have recovered, exhibit antibodies specific to the strain they were exposed to. It's possible that those antibodies may not protect against all future strains of the virus (or persist against that specific antigen in perpetuity), but to claim there is no immunity to the virus is not accurate. Researchers are currently harvesting plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to use as models for vaccines. Herd Immunity refers to a critical mass of a population (often cited in literature as 60% to 65% of a population) who have either developed or have been administered antibodies (i.e. vaccinations), such that the antigen (in this case COVID-19) is "insulated" from other members of the herd from a transmission standpoint. It's not a reference to a person, but a sub population. Herd Immunity is a relatively slow process to develop (in human terms) and does not insure against future infections of the same antigen. There's still a lot we don't know about this specific Coronavirus, but let's take some comfort in the knowledge we do have.

Completely agree about the risk to the BVI vs. the rest of the World and happy to see them taking the steps they have to try and mitigate the threat.

The huge problem is the number of asymptomatic people who have the virus. On the cruise ships that have provided the best look at the spread and effects on people who have it there were more than 20% with the virus that had no symptoms. Since it’s about 3 times as contagious as the flu viruses having asymptomatic carriers is a huge problem. The immediate lockdown was the best that could be done but it’s unlikely that the virus is contained to two or three individuals. I hope it is. Be safe .

Today the government announced another 14 days of "lock down" , total lock down from 6 pm to 6 am and a partial limited use "lock down" where people can shop from 6 am to 6 pm. Right now I have sent in medicines from the USA using Aeropost air express.. Now I am trying to determine how I am going to retrieve this medicine. I also need to get salt fro my pool so the chlorine generator will operate..Also need a valve and a soldering iron to get the pool operational. Just had it rebuilt with new diamond brite. Put $2000 worth of water in so do not want it to get green.

Good luck - pools can be tricky

Yeah, those chlorine generators are great, when you can get the salt. Have you not used the salt before? I wouldn't think that is something that would be in short supply, but who knows? Hope you are able to get your medicine and the salt. Take care.

So happy you got to your Sonoma home.

The BVI will let residents shop (Names A-I today, J-R Friday, and S-Z Saturday). Then it's back to TOTAL LOCKDOWN for 11 more days.
This means no one on the roads (driving or walking) Can't walk your dog or take trash to the trash bins!

https://bvi.gov.vg/media-centre/mandatory-24-hour-curfew

No the lockdown will go to Sunday 17th to complete the 14 isolation cycle as stated in the speech. Trash is being picked up from the kerbside of houses.

Kmon--not sure where you get that, from that link. To not put out trash would cause many more sanitation problems.

We heard this from the owner of a resort on Virgin Gorda. They use bins which are 1/4 mile apart for their trash.
The owner said they are not supposed to be using the roads for any reason. Sleepy Chef said they are doing
curbside pickup on Tortola. They may be for individual houses there, but not sure about Virgin Gorda. The resort
owner also said she is walking their dogs on their property because the roads are not supposed to be used.

But you said "can't walk your dog", which obviously they ARE walking their dogs, just on their own property. And it appears there are different rules for different islands. And I think that something got lost in translation, that they think they can't put their trash out. That's ridiculous.

Yes, I meant they can't walk their dogs on the roads. It's because the governments have no idea what to do. Some are ridiculously restrictive and IMHO not necessary!

So 3 days of buying what you need for 14 days, then total lock down. For me I have the villa fully stocked with food , water etc. Since I own a lot of land in South Sound I could walk around, but I have workers staying with me at the villa. They work most days finishing the villa (maybe about a month) Today I am putting salt (that I bought yesterday) into the pool and then my salt generator will be making chlorine. I expect to stay until the villa is done (some things can't be completed until I get some more materials like a missing part for a dining room table but the company is in lock down in calif so no part coming.

Kmon the garbage is collected on every island now, always was on Anegada since the first lockdown.'

As to ridiculous measures perhaps the US should lead and not follow what we are doing, the BVI does not have the medical facilities to deal with an outbreak such as is in the US at the moment, and the reality is the BVI will reopen much faster due to these measures, just not to outside traffic for a good while, probably not till next season in reality, harsh as it is, better that than anyone dying in the BVI.

Money can be replaced, your life cannot.

Glad you were able to get the salt. Have you received your medicine? Take care and stay safe!

In the original 6 day lockdown the instructions were "no extended dog walks" and "garbage can not be taken to the roadside bins". The dog walk rule was obviously unclear so most interpreted as they wished but the garbage was pretty clear and the intent was to store it for the 6 days as most people don't have curbside pickup as an option.

Beginning today and for the rest of the next 16 days, they have started curbside garbage pickup on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so that should eliminate the storage issue. Haven't seen any new direction on dog walking but the beaches are specifically closed.