TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin As of yesterday, there are NO Covid requirements to enter SXM!

Can someone confirm (and make me and and my wife feel better) that the rt-PCR test you take prior to travel and the Binaznow proctored test to return (if choosing that way) - that neither are the old tests that poke the swab to the back of the brain?? Are hey both just nasal swabs like at home self-tests? Thank you!

Haha! Yes, just like the home tests. Nothing to it.

Depends who is administering the test.

So in your recent travels, where did you take the test that they did that?

Different question - and I sure appreciate everyones help.

I am intersted in what kinds of documents you were successful in uploading for EHAS approval?

I do not need an overview of what is on the approval submission website. I read that and understand.

But I am curious since there are so many options as to what you can get back from a test result. I would be able to get a signed letter from doctor with all the information from my doctor for a rapid antigen test. Would love to scan that and send it in. As this test can be administered by her and no lab needed, I do not know if they would frown on that (reading that doctor email not good enough).

Anyone do an antigen test with their doctor?

Thanks!

Are you vaccinated? If you're vaccinated, you don't need to worry about test results at all.

We are not. Had delta version this time last year.

Anyone email them with just a general question and get responses?

Several people have sent in general questions to EHAS and gotten a response.

Did I just read this correctly, you have to have proof of taking a covid booster shot within 14 days of arrival?

No....you did not read it correctly. You are considered fully vac'd two weeks after your second shot

"You are considered fully vaccinated with an accepted vaccine :
2 weeks after the second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer, Moderna, Astrazeneca, Sinopharm, Sinovac/Coronavac and Covishield vaccines,"

The addition of the booster info is a tad misleading since "fully vac'ed" does not mean boosters administered

We are to fly to SXM on 10/29. I fear I am still too obtuse to understand #5 on their list. My wife had Covid last May but only had a "Rapid NAAT test" done. Not a PCR. She only talked to her Dr. on the phone briefly and had a very mild case. Her Dr. wonders what a PCR test will demonstrate to them at this late date. Since she never had a PCR test done I am tempted to simply say we have not had Covid in the last 9 months as we have nothing they accept to demonstrate she did.

Should she get a PCR test done now even though it is still 17 days out?
Advice?

When they say "positive Covid-19 PCR test result" do they mean positive that she does NOT have Covid?

Has she had the vaccine? If so, then it doesn't matter if she had Covid or not. Just show proof of vaccination.

Yes, we are fully vaxed and boosted. But #5 on their list says this:

Travelers who have recovered from a Covid-19 infection within 9 months before departure must upload one of the below acceptable proofs of recovery:

A government / public health authority issued proof of recovery (Digital Covid Recovery Certificate or letter)
A lab issued positive Covid-19 PCR test result also indicating a Ct value of 35 or higher.
A signed and stamped Covid-19 recovery letter from a physician accompanied by the positive Covid-19 PCR test result.

It does not seem to exempt vaxed travelers.

...and the Rapid NAAT test has always been accepted when it WAS needed...used it for four trips...

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing

MXS--That is only if you are using the fact that you recovered from Covid in order to bypass having to have a vaccination or have a test. If you are vaccinated, just upload proof of vaccination.

Yay! I agree they were needed to begin with, but glad they are now gone!!

I hate to be a dissenter, and I know I'll make some enemies here, but this is a disease that has killed over a million in the US, and many millions globally, and it's still out there. Hospitalizations are on the rise in several states. Yes, for convenience reasons relaxing restrictions is nice. But the last time it was done, the disease came back "bigly" and in some areas the restrictions were reintroduced.

I agree it's definitely still out there, and I plan on getting another booster shot, hopefully this weekend. But the time for EHAS is past.

Carol… my posts aren’t showing up…but they appear on my mailbox

Sorry, I don't understand your question.