TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands May 15th BVI Changes for Vaccine - Children

15 May.

As of 15 May, no more Day 4 testing for fully vax'd crew.

Bringing this back to children discussion.

***Do we know where(location) the kids need tested on day 4? Besides the fact that having kids retested on day 4 doesn't make much sense.

***Those of you that may have travelled to BVI recently
1. are the tests self administered or does someone else swab your nose?
2. are they doing just the end of the nose or a deeper nasal swab?

***Do you have to pay $105 for children too?

***After day 0 tests are negative are you allowed to visit places on shore etc before children tested on day 4?

Thanks!

I believe the kids will be tested at the same clinic as the adults.

We got our day four tests at the clinic on Anegada on April 19th and there were two families with a total of three children who were being tested at the same time. They did a throat swab for the children but it was administered by the clinic staff - not Do-It-Yourself. It did not appear to be a comfortable experience. The nasopharyngeal (very deep) swabbing the adults received was universally described as the deepest and most uncomfortable that any of us had experienced (and we had all had numerous tests). If the medical technician who is going to do your tests is named Weeks, run away. We were told he was a temporary and had moved to Virgin Gorda a week after our tests.

We got tested on VG....it was not Weeks, but a female and she was as bad as Weeks sounds...I grabbed her leg when she was doing it. There was nothing else to grab....horrible experience. Worst I had out of the 4 done by far....it was our test before going home...

Thanks so far and I appreciate the input. My kids are young and they love to go sailing, live on the boat, play on the beach, etc, but not really old enough to make a rational decision re testing discomfort vs benefit. As much as I love to visit the islands I'm not choosing for them to have potentially deep nasopharyngeal/throat swabbing done at my decision. I know it's covid and testing required so for now we will stick with the USVI and testing stateside once vs 2 additional tests in the BVI.

The tests are done at the clinic then sent to Pebbles for processing - count on late the day after for results - tests are done at 10 am

A friend just had their day zero tests done at the airport. It took 65 hours to get the result. He has had 50 plus covid tests with many in China. He described the BVI test as the worst by a big margin! Perhaps they need more training.

Update from the Moorings, charters starting 14 May or earlier will have the entire trip under the old protocols. Charters 15 May or later will be under the new protocol. If you have a charter starting 15 or 16 May I would see about moving it up to 14 May if you have unvaccinated travelers. The opposite would apply if starting 13 or 14 May and everyone is fully vaccinated.

Indeed this doesn’t make a lot of sense from a disease control standpoint or the logistics of handling.

On the one hand they are allowing more freedom of movement sooner for vaccinated individuals. That’s good.. it was imperative to do it if they were going to have any sort of tourist season and not have the charter and land based businesses suffer even more harm.

Yet they require testing before entry and testing at entry for vaccinated tourists. Okay but they are allowing vaccinated passengers off cruise ships with no prior testing to wander around immediately. Cruise ship passengers that have been mingling in closed spaces with passengers and crew from everywhere. They will be visiting several islands before getting to the bvi. Taken together this makes no sense.

The other problem is testing. With very few people coming in, testing times are unpredictable and mostly slower than promised. I’m sure people relying on this latest plan, will be making reservations for boats and villas for the summer. However the government seems to make decisions on the fly without considering details. There is obviously a lack of testing capacity or trained people to perform these tests. From the reports of poor technique in obtaining specimens above, I suspect the lab is not what you would see in most medical facilities testing on a large scale. I worry If you triple the incoming tests, if they stick with pcr testing they will get far behind in having results and sloppy in running tests. The health minister talked about moving to rapid tests. IMO they will have to for this to succeed.

This would be a disaster otherwise. It will possibly impact getting the test run for return to the us.Also changing the quarantine from 4 to 7 when people have booked vacations ahead of time seems arbitrary with short lead time if there are areas where they cannot be vaccinated or any reason they cannot.. In addition many people I am sure will be unaware of the change.

What makes sense to me is to allow vaccinated visitors with a negative test access without further testing until that necessary to leave if still in place. Children traveling with vaccinated travelers tested before travel and on arrival ..no further testing.

The bvi is going to have some Covid cases . With thousands of cruise ship passengers every week off a congregate facility is a much bigger problem. They should then save the testing for unvaccinated adults and testing and tracing of the cases that will be bound to happen in the population that is less than 50% vaccinated. Look for some snafus.

I cant believe they are changing 4 to 7 for unvaccinated yet letting unvaccinated teenagers in as long as they stay in the "family bubble"...

Your points are well taken. I have chartered in the BVI more than 50 years, but my vaccinated crew and I will be in the USVI later this month. Hard to believe that despite all of us being vaccinated and getting favorable antibody tests to enter the USVI, we cannot sail into the BVI. St John here we come!

Well I heard a blurb on CNBC that US is going to start accepting self administered quick tests for re entry. They will be monitored by a telehealth provider that has been authorized. I have no idea but this really helps change the game. One of my fears with increased testing and possible delays in their lab system was that the three day test at the end might be a problem getting results and a source of angst. No details were given or timeline.

With this change if goes smoothly it won’t require anything but an internet feed. And I strongly suspect the bvi will be going to quick tests before too long.

CDC update May 7th 2021

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

thanks...that helps clarify the 3 day rule vs 72 hours. We can have our exit test at Jost on Friday AM 900 and it be good for noon Monday EIS-SJU

Does anyone know if required day 4 testing for unvaccinated children can be done at any of the testing locations (Spanish Town, Jost, Tortola), or is it required to be done on Tortola via Nanny Cay as was the case prior to 5/15?

Will, I read something about the new CDC allowed self administered tests as well. But got me wondering how it would work? A friend did one to get approved for Maui a few months ago. She got online with a nurse who watched the family get the samples and then my friend sent these via FedEx to the lab. Results were quick via email.

However if we are in the BVI how would we get the the test samples to a lab? Which lab? In the US? STT? PR? Is there an overnight delivery company in BVI to get the samples anywhere fast?

Sunnykm ~ Great questions! Thanks for asking what has been rambling around my head

I regularly fedex items to the US. We also have UPS.

“Fast” and “BVI” may never be used in the same sentence. Repetitive use will cause internet to crash.

Jason - what are costs to FedEx from BVI? I just had a quote to send docs from MI to Tortola and it was $105!!! I would not bank (literally) on sending self administered tests for exit approval/US reentry and you would need to find a pick-up location. We tested for exit on JVD and it was fast efficient and friendly.

I emailed BVI Yacht Charters and asked this question, as our plan is to be on Anegada for Days 4-5. They said it would be fine for my daughter to get her Day 4 test there.

Try to test in the early morning a day the ferry is running - the lab is in Tortola and I understand that all samples must be transported there.

As I understood the piece they were using the at home rapid tests now available and monitoring by a tele health group. You did the rapid test, they certified their monitoring and you got some sort of certification. It was just a blip th3y read before an interview with Gottleib. I tried googling and have found nothing about it, I’ve sent a number of things to bvi via fedex, never reverse., I don’t think that would work as far as easing stress.

FedEx works fine, both ways, but it's not cheap. Economy usually costs more than Priority.

I sent some documents last week and it was $79.

Keep in mind you can only test in Anegada on days there is a morning ferry (Monday, Wednesday, or Friday) or a known flight. If your Day 4 is Saturday, you'll have to wait until Day 6 to take her test.

Thanks Jason, that's good info. Our Day 4 is a Wednesday!

There are now tests you can process at home. They do not require mailing them to a lab. To meet CDC requirements the test has to be supervised through a remote session (like Zoom) and the provider must generate the report of the results (which they email to you).

Indeed that’s what I heard. Do you know who is providing this service. Is it set up via prescription of physicians? How does one sign up? I can’t find it.

Some googling took me to reviews for three anywhere tests with results in minutes. Can be purchased at CVS drugstores and their website.

Pretty cool! MIT Technology Review website discusses the three that are available. https://www.technologyreview.com/20...-review-accuracy-binaxnow-lucira-ellume/

The MIT Technology Review article is excellent. It describes the limitations and possible issues with the tests and compares three of them. I don't know if the three tests reviewed meet the CDC Guidelines. The reviewer does not mention the on-line supervision aspect, which seems to be a critical component required for the CDC acceptance. It's possible that a provider could do that with one of these kits but I don't have any sources (yet).

The Lucira test (which has an associated app) will send you a report of your results.

Here is the entry from their FAQ:

"How does LUCI PASS work for travel?

Lucira is a high performing PCR quality molecular test, equivalent to other tests accepted by most travel destinations. LUCI PASS has also been designed to help you use it for travel.Your LUCI PASS will display:·

Your verified test result, including the date and time of your test results·
Information regarding Lucira’s accuracy, clinical performance and ability to detect Covid variants·
A link to the FDA website that displays Lucira’s FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)
While we believe Lucira’s test should be acceptable for most travel, It is important to check with your airline and/or travel destination for further details and restrictions, as this may vary from destination to destination.

Note that Lucira is not yet approved for travel to the State of Hawaii. We hope to be soon."

$55 from their website.

Unknown at this moment if this meets the requirements.