Saint Lucia’s government has revealed a change to one of its core arrival protocols for travelers, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The island will soon require all incoming visitors to obtain a negative PCR test five days before arrival in the country. 

That is a slight tightening of an earlier policy that had required PCR tests within seven days before arrival. 

The new protocol will take effect on Feb. 10, tourism officials told Caribbean Journal. 

“In order to co-exist with Covid, we must constantly evaluate our safety and travel protocols. In due consideration of all factors affecting the health of Saint Lucian citizens and international visitors, we are tightening testing protocols based on our current conditions,” said Saint Lucia Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee. 

Saint Lucia was one of the first Caribbean destinations to reopen amid the pandemic when it did so in the first week of June. 

Its reopening has been held up as a model for tourism reopenings in the wider region.

The destination’s tourism reopening includes the vast majority of its hotels and resorts. 

It should also be noted that the new CDC mandate requires all travelers returning to the United States to show proof of a negative PCR test taken and received within 72 hours before coming back to the United States. 

Saint Lucia has already expanded its testing capacity island-wide to help travelers comply. 

You can find more on the country’s travel protocols here. 

— CJ