Amendments will go into effect on August 22, with the changes set to “allow unvaccinated travelers to come to Bermuda.”
Minister of Health Kim Wilson said, “I am pleased to advise that Amendments to the Quarantine [Covid-19] [No. 3] Order 2020 will go into effect on August 22, 2022. These changes will allow unvaccinated travelers to come to Bermuda.”
“The amendments include the following.
- Unvaccinated residents no longer have to quarantine for four days when they return to the island, and there is no requirement for a day 10 test.
- Unvaccinated visitors must take a Covid test, no more than two days before landing in Bermuda and then test again on day 4.
- Unvaccinated visitors must have valid travel health insurance to enter Bermuda and must upload proof of travel health insurance to their Travel Authorisation application for approval.
- Unvaccinated residents can take a Covid test no more than two days before landing or, if they choose not to, they must take a Covid test on arrival at the airport. They will test again on day 4, but there is no quarantine and no day 10 test.
- Residents who previously travelled with proof of recent recovery from Covid or with a medical exemption from vaccination, no longer need to provide that proof or get that exemption. Instead, those residents will fall into the category of an unvaccinated resident and follow that testing regime: pre-arrival test and day 4 test or arrival test +and day 4 test.
- Similarly, unvaccinated cruise passengers require a Covid test no more than two days before departing the port. Depending on the time it takes to travel to Bermuda, they may need to test again before disembarking in Bermuda. This is familiar territory for the cruise lines as Bermuda already requires additional testing for vaccinated travellers when the journey to Bermuda is longer than four days.
- Unvaccinated mariners will get a Covid test no more than two days before departure and, as those sailing journeys to Bermuda take more than two days, we will require them to provide proof of a negative Covid test within 24hrs of arrival in Bermuda. They can do this using a telehealth service or by going to Perot Post Office. They will test again on day 4 as well. [This approach is similar to that used by the CDC for unvaccinated travellers arriving in the US.]
- Residents unwilling to do the required testing will need to quarantine for four days upon landing in Bermuda. They can exit quarantine with a negative day 4 test.
“The above reference to Covid test refers to the following; PCR, NAAT, or supervised antigen.
“Unvaccinated travellers with Travel Authorisations [TAs] approved before August 22 who are travelling after August 22 will not have to submit proof of travel health insurance, but they will have to follow the relaxed testing and quarantine requirements on arrival [no quarantine, no day 10 test, and no arrival test if they have a valid pre-travel test].
“Unvaccinated travellers with a TA submitted before August 22 but TA not yet approved will be held to the new requirements.
“Anyone travelling to Bermuda should carefully review the entry requirements. Travellers leaving Bermuda should carefully review the inbound travel guidance of their destination. Bermuda’s Covid travel information can be found on coronavirus.gov.bm.”
