5 May 2022
On Tuesday, 26 April 2022, Executive Council reviewed and agreed to amend the current quarantine arrangements. Changes were agreed by Executive Council as part of Phase 1 of a roadmap for St Helena to work toward a return to normality.
The quarantine period has been reduced from 10 days to 7 days for vaccinated arrivals to St Helena by air or sea travel with immediate effect.
- Arrivals who are fully vaccinated will be required to quarantine for 7 days. Arrivals must provide a COVID-19 vaccination certificate showing they were fully vaccinated (as per the recommended dosage for the particular vaccine)
- Any arrivals who have not been fully vaccinated will be required to complete a 10 day quarantine period
- If vaccinated and unvaccinated persons quarantine together in the same location the quarantine period for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated persons will be 10 days.
St Helena no longer requires a negative PCR test result prior to travel to the Island. Please note that South African authorities require a negative PCR test result from persons who are not fully vaccinated when entering South Africa.
Air arrivals to St Helena:
- Regardless of vaccination status, all arriving passengers will be processed, provided with a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) and given a quarantine information pack upon arrival to St Helena Airport.
- ‘Day 0’ test: Upon arrival to their quarantine accommodation, each passenger is required to undertake the provided LFT themselves. The results are to be photographed and sent electronically to COVID-19 Coordinator, Grace Richards, via email: Grace.richards@sainthelena.gov.sh. A member of the Health Services Quarantine team will also make telephone contact with all persons in home quarantine and will expect the test results to be provided verbally. This call will outline the requirements of quarantine and passengers will have the opportunity to ask/discuss any questions or concerns regarding their time in quarantine.
- PCR testing to be released into the community will be done on the sixth or ninth day of quarantine (this is dependent on the quarantine period being undertaken). All persons will attend Bradleys for testing via their own transport or transport agreed prior to arrival at St Helena.
- Should a person receive a positive test result during quarantine, they (or their group, if quarantining together) will continue to quarantine for an extended period until two consecutive negative test results are received from each person. The first test will be taken on day 5 of the quarantine extension and the second test taken on day 6.
The decision to reduce the number of quarantine days from 10 to 7 for fully vaccinated persons/groups has been based on scientific and professional advice as well as previous international experience. All COVID-19 SOPs will be followed.
#StHelena #ChangesToQuarantine #CovidTesting
SHG
5 May 2022