No, Visitors and residents will no longer be required to;

• Apply for Travel Authorisation
• Provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test prior to arrival
• Complete a health screening questionnaire
• Present evidence of travel insurance which covers COVID-19 medical costs and full hospitalization, doctors’ visits, prescriptions and air ambulance.
• Wear masks/face coverings

This requirement came into force on September 1^st 2021.

A copy of a letter from your medial provider on an official letter head detailing the reason for your medical exemption should be submitted to the following email address at least two weeks prior to travel vaccineexemptions@gov.tc. Unless the exemption is approved by the Ministry of Health and Human Services in the Turks and Caicos Islands, you are not considered medically exempted.

The requirement for persons over 18 years to be fully vaccinated in order to enter the TCI applies to the age at the time of arrival.

No. Please have Proof of Vaccination available when you travel.

Proof of vaccination is either a digital or paper record which must be presented on arrival. Acceptable forms are:

• E-certificate/digital certificate (such as those from CVS, Walgreens, or the NHS).
• Certification issued by a doctor or government entity.
• Vaccination cards/certificates accepted by national authorities.
• A letter signed by a medical professional (physician or registered nurse) on official letterhead with contact details. Doctor's registration or license number should be included with details of the first and second dose (date, country and vaccine you received).
• Authorized government entity record or printed record from an electronic vaccination database.

Please monitor information posted online from official government sources/websites for any changes in the entry requirements.

Please monitor information posted online from official government sources/websites for any changes in the entry requirements.

Evidence of an approved medical exemption from the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Turks and Caicos Islands, should be presented to your airline carrier and the Immigration Department for review.

Once approved, the exemption is permanent and can be used for future visits.

Vaccineexemptions@gov.tc will only respond to requests for medical exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine for the purpose of entry to the TCI.

All other queries should be directed to the appropriate agency.

Yes, it is recommended that persons continue to wear a mask that covers their nose and mouth when in contact with others outside your household, when in healthcare facilities, and when receiving any vaccine, including a COVID-19 vaccine. Especially due to the existence of COVID-19 variants that are more easily transmissible. Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unable to remove a mask without assistance should not wear a mask. 

Yes, frontline workers, the elderly and vulnerable groups will receive the vaccine first.
The goal is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as large quantities of vaccine are available.

COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to you regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 infection. You should not be required to have an antibody test before you are vaccinated. However, anyone currently infected with COVID-19 should wait to get vaccinated until after their illness has resolved and after they have met the criteria to discontinue isolation. Additionally, current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection. Therefore, people with a recent infection may delay vaccination until the end of that 90-day period if desired.

Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools available. Vaccines work with your immune system so your body will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed. Other steps, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask and staying at least 6 feet away from others, help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others. Together, COVID-19 vaccination and following CDC’s recommendations to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19.

Experts do not know what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19. Herd immunity is a term used to describe when enough people have protection—either from previous infection or vaccination—that it is unlikely a virus or bacteria can spread and cause disease. As a result, everyone within the community is protected even if some people don’t have any protection themselves. The percentage of people who need to have protection in order to achieve herd immunity varies by disease

There is no such thing as zero risk, and this is true for these new vaccines and with other vaccines that are already in the market. Many vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, may have a series of mild and short-term effects such as pain at the injection site, fatigue or headache. This is normal - it means the immune response is kicking in. There can also be serious adverse events. But if a vaccine is approved, it means that it has shown to have a good safety profile, which means that the risk of this type of events is very low. However, when hundreds of thousands of people start receiving the vaccine, one can expect to see some rare adverse events that had not been observed before, including allergic reactions. It is also true that some vaccines use new technologies with which we have little experience, and it will be important to monitor long-term safety. In fact, Pfizer plans on following-up its trial participants during two years.

Although several of the most advanced vaccines have shown an efficacy above 90%, no vaccine is 100% effective. Therefore, we may expect that some people will fall sick with COVID-19 despite being vaccinated and we cannot rule out the possibility that some may even die. But the great majority of vaccinated people will be protected against the disease, or against severe forms of the disease.

Data suggests that the risk of vaccinated persons transmitting COVID-19 is significantly less than persons who are unvaccinated.

The internet is rife with dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, and it can be difficult to know what to trust. The best thing you can do is educate yourself about the vaccines with information from trustworthy sources.

• https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
• https://www.who.int/
• https://www.paho.org/en
• https://www.cdc.gov/

Covid-19 is an infectious disease and the most recently discovered form of coronavirus. Its symptoms include fever, tiredness and dry cough. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell. In more severe cases, it can lead to serious illness with older people and those with underlying medical conditions most at risk.

Because COVID-19 is highly transmissible and can be spread by people who do not know they have the disease, risk of transmission within a community can be difficult to determine.

Community transmission is when there is no clear source of origin of the infection in a new community. It happens when you can no longer identify who became infected after being exposed to someone who interacted with people from the originally infected communities.

Community mitigation activities are actions that people and communities can take to slow the spread of the COVID-19 which in turn will protect all individuals, especially those at increased risk for severe illness such as the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Authoritiess have advised residents to be on high alert and take precautionary measures if they have been to some of the areas most affected by coronavirus or if they’ve been in close contact with a confirmed case.

Individuals need to follow healthy hygiene practices, stay at home when sick, practice physical distancing to lower the risk of disease spread, and use a cloth face covering in community settings. These universal precautions are appropriate regardless of the extent of mitigation needed.

This is when attempts are made to trace all the people who a confirmed case may have been in close contact with. Health authorities here have always been keen to emphasise that contact tracing is an essential “process” that it undertakes each time there’s a confirmed case.

According to the CDC, a contact of a Covid-19 case is a person not presenting symptoms, who has or may been in contact with that case. That could be family members, friends, work colleagues or even someone they were on public transport with.

Based on a risk assessment, authorities will aim to make contact with all of these people and take whatever appropriate action – testing, self-isolation etc – is needed.

The main focus of contact tracing, however, is on the close contacts a confirmed case has had. This could be any individual who has had greater than 15 minutes face-to-face contact with a confirmed case, in any setting. It could also be someone you sat within two seats of on a plane, or someone you live with. 

Close contacts are most at risk of contracting the virus.

The TCI’s economy is strongly based on hospitality and tourism. Increased travel to the TCI carries the increased risk of COVID-19 and its variants entering the Islands. Due to limited hospital capacity high infection rates can overwhelm the healthcare system, as well as impact the treatment of non-COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 vaccination can significantly reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. Continuing to practice physical distancing, wearing a mask to cover your nose and mouth and frequent hand washing/sanitization, all reduce the risk of transmission.

Reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Headaches
• Joint pain
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Loss of taste
• Loss of smell

Emergency warning signs include*:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• New confusion or inability to arouse
• Bluish lips or face

*This list is not all inclusive. Please call to consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning.

Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

• Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
• Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Can someone spread the virus without being sick?

• People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest).
• Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

How easily the virus spreads

How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained, spreading continually without stopping.

The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (“community spread”) in some affected geographic areas.

*Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.

Most people can continue to go to work, school and other public places.

You only need to stay away from public places (self-quarantine) if advised to by a healthcare professional or by the MoH Coronavirus Service Line.

The risk depends on where you are - and more specifically, whether there is a COVID-19 outbreak unfolding there.

For most people in most locations the risk of catching COVID-19 is still low. However, there are now places around the world (cities or areas) where the disease is spreading. For people living in, or visiting, these areas the risk of catching COVID-19 is higher.

Do

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• always wash your hands when you get home or into work
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards
• try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
• wear masks that cover your nose and mouth, especially in public places
• maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from others where practicable
• get vaccinated

Don't

• do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean

MoH has a telephone service if you need medical help and provide advice on the next steps.

Use this service if:

• you think you might have COVID 19 (coronavirus)
• The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure:
  • Fever
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Headaches
  • Joint pain
  • Lethargy
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Loss of taste
  • Loss of smell
• you've been in close contact with someone with coronavirus
• Do not go to your doctor’s office, pharmacy or hospital. Call the coronavirus hotline at 1 (649) 232-9444 or 1 (649) 338-0911 if you need to speak with someone.

If there’s a chance you could have the Coronavirus, you may be asked to stay away from other people (self-quarantine)

Take these steps to monitor your health and practice social distancing:

1. Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and monitor for fever. Also watch for cough or trouble breathing.
2. Stay home and avoid contact with others.
3. Do not go to work, school or other public places for this 14-day period. Discuss your work situation with your employer before returning to work.
4. Do not take public transportation, taxis, or ride-shares during the time you are practicing social distancing.
5. Avoid crowded places (such as shopping centers and movie theaters) and limit your activities in public.
6. Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).
7. Ask friends, family members or delivery service to do errands for you.
8. Try to avoid unnecessary visitors to your home.
9. Where possible, use a designated bathroom/bedroom and isolate yourself from other family members in the household. Ensure through cleaning and sanitisation of frequently touched areas.

Call your doctor or the Coronavirus hotline, via +1 (649) 232-9444 or +1 (649) 333-0911 if you begin to experience symptoms while in self-quarantine.

There are specific treatments available in certain countries. Work to further develop treatment is ongoing.

Vaccines have since been developed to reduce the spread and contraction of the virus. COVID-19 vaccines can also reduce the severity of the impacts of COVID-19, if you do contract the virus.

Affected persons should receive care to relieve symptoms. People with serious illness should be hospitalized. Most patients recover thanks to supportive care.

Antibiotics do not help, as they do not work against viruses.

Ensure that you consume a healthy diet, take vitamins and boost your immune system.