- The Bahamas is again restricting commercial flights from the US to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
- The Caribbean nation has largely avoided an outbreak as severe as the United States, which has failed to contain the spread of the virus.
- However, private jets and charter flights will still be allowed, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said.
- Wealthy travelers have been identified as vectors of the pandemic in several countries.
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Americans are not welcome in the Bahamas because the United States was unable to contain its coronavirus outbreak, unless they came in a private jet.
“International commercial flights and commercial vessels carrying passengers will not be allowed to enter our borders, except commercial flights from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a national speech on Sunday.
The new rule is another blow to American passports, which are now unwelcome in the European Union, Iceland, Canada, Japan, and many other countries.
However, there is a catch for the Bahamas: “Private international flights and charter flights will be allowed for Bahamians, residents and visitors,” he said.
So far, the island nation has largely avoided an outbreak as severe as the United States, but cases have rebounded since the reintroduction of international flights after a three-month hiatus, Minnis said.
While the measure to ban most visitors could probably prevent a further spread of the virus to the island, the loophole for private flights could be a vulnerability. Wealthy Mexican travelers, including the president of the country’s stock exchange, contributed to the spread of the virus after a ski trip to Colorado, according to the LA Times. Elsewhere, a Bollywood singer who refused to quarantine after a trip to London and wealthy college students who returned to South Korea contributed as vectors for the spread of the pandemic, StarTribune reported.
As commercial flights were hampered amid the initial spread of the virus, private jets saw an increase in demand for repatriation flights. Florida, the largest source of tourists to the Bahamas, remains the United States’ main entry point for the virus, with more than 24,000 new cases reported during the weekend of July 18 alone.
“I must tell you that if cases continue to increase and increase, my government is prepared to implement more restrictive measures,” said Minnis. “This is not our wish. But if it has to be done, it will be done.”
