TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands What happens IF one tests positive while in BVI?

I’ve not heard or seen any discussion about complications IF someone receives a positive test after arrival in the BVI.

Let’s say you agree to all the current requirements outlined and have a 14 day charter. You have a negative test within the 5 days prior to arrival but test positive upon arrival, or at the 2nd or 3rd required test. And thankfully you aren’t sick enough to need hospitalization.

Then what?

Airlines won’t let you fly, right?

You have to stay somewhere but can’t stay on the boat after the date your charter ends, now what?

Are there places you can stay during your recovery?

What if there is no availability or the person can’t afford the high prices of some places?

And there are so many other questions and scenarios that could happen.

Where are the guidelines/regulations for these situations?

One would think this would be included in a government's plan.

I have heard nothing about this.

I thought that was exactly the scenario that the COVID insurance is to cover

I don't think availability will be an issue...

Seriously though, it's like any other illness or medical event you might have while on vacation (think heart attack, pneumonia, etc). I assume you'd be responsible to find your own housing and stay put until you were cleared to travel.

If you were presenting symptoms that required hospitalization, the required insurance would get you home for care.

On a side note, I carry MedJet insurance to cover evacuations back to the US while I'm traveling. I was notified yesterday that my existing policy now covers evacuations due to COVID-19 hospitalization.

We also have MedJet and they said recently that they had acquired a Covid evacuation plane which will serve the Caribbean. This must have been a very profitable year for them, given that no one was traveling and they didn't have to evacuate many people!

I was thinking the same thing yesterday.

Another answer might be hidden in the COVID protocols for hotels and villas. We are obligated to block a quarantine room to be used for any guests testing positive or exhibiting symptoms. I don't remember all the details but that requirement is amongst the 28 pages of protocols.

I suspect that a Covid evacuation would not occur because you tested positive. It would probably only be paid for if required for life critical treatment. That would be a very small portion of covid cases.
G

Their specific term is hospitalized.

"Medjet is now able to transport a member hospitalized with Covid-19, while traveling in the contiguous 48 United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean Islands, to a hospital of their choice at home. We are the only membership program to have added this benefit."

Right, no need for evac so long as not medically necessary, which would be a very small percentage of cases. One would need to quarantine on island until you no longer test positive. As far as the required Covid insurance, if medical evac was medically necessary, one would ASSUME that it would be covered by the required insurance. However, one knows what happens when one ASSUMES. As far as paying for a place to stay after testing positive, under some island's plans, the cost of the quarantine housing is covered by the required insurance. The devil is in the details, which of course, there are very few in this circumstance, as of now.

The BVI government did not arrange insurance like many other countries did. They could have negotiated all this coverage in advance for every visitor and included it in a single fee that covered insurance, testing, and tracing. Had they done that, maybe housing would have been negotiated. MedJet will basically cover evacuation but only if you're hospitalized.

The problem with a positive Covid test is once someone tests positive, it can take many weeks before they test negative, even after they are no longer able to spread the disease.

Jason--OK. The BVI is just going to require "insurance"? How do they know what it will cover?

Adrian--You're correct about that, but one ASSUMES that the airline would be notified of your positive test and wouldn't allow you to fly home??

I wish I knew. The protocol only says you are required to abide by certain terms and conditions. One of the terms and conditions is "medical travel insurance that includes COVID-19 coverage". It's not even written in grammatically correct English so technically it could imply you agree that such insurance coverage exists in the world.

No clue how they intend to confirm someone's insurance covers COVID-19 or what it actually covers. I could understand wanting to cover evacuation so the precious 8 ventilators aren't ever used (don't know why we have them if they aren't to be used).

OK, sounds like something they require and have no intention of enforcing. I can't see ANY government official actually READING a policy from every different insurance company that writes policies to determine what they will cover.

I'm glad they don't have a mandatory package, as between MedJet and our international medical insurance we feel we're covered. As we'd be staying at our own house, the hotel portion isn't applicable to us.

Should be interesting to try and get your property Gold Certified while you're away. I'm here and don't even know what it means.

Not to mention they probably don't have a boat to visit the out islands!

Both Air Canada and WestJet are including covid medical insurance in their tickets.

just had a short conversation with my medical insurance company AARP Medicare Advantage Focus (HMO-POS) Indian River County Florida In the policy it states that there is a $0 copay for emergency care worldwide as well as Urgently Needed Services $0 copay worldwide,

So as I see it any covid event in the BVI would be covered by my policy and thus I do not need to buy a covid policy since I already have coverage.

I will ask my insurance company to provide me with a letter stating the above