There are no plans to shut down the airport, Premier David Burt said, however there are plans to introduce “mandatory quarantine requirements for non-vaccinated travelers in the near future.”
During a Q&A session held along with Dr. Carika Weldon, the Premier was asked if there are plans to shut down the airport, and he replied “no” and explained that the airport “is important for Bermuda.”
Premier Burt said, “It’s not just about tourists, it’s about persons who travel for medical reasons, persons who travel for academic reasons. Not everyone is going on a shopping trip to New York, or an ill advised partying trip to Miami or Atlanta. That’s not what everyone is traveling for, and the airport is our lifeline and connection to the rest of the world.
“We clearly will have to do some modifications as we move forward,” the Premier added. “We will be introducing mandatory quarantine requirements for non-vaccinated travelers in the near future. Those will be for visitors and also for returning residents.
“But I think as Dr Weldon has stated many points in time, visitors are never our problem,” he said. “It is persons who are residents, who do not feel as though if they need to follow the rules, and that is the reason why I sympathize with the views and calls of other persons who say that we should reinstate mandatory 14 day quarantine.”
“What I will say is that they will be restrictions that are going to be introduced as we increase our pace of vaccination, as vaccines are widely available in all of our gateway cities, to implement heavy restrictions at the border for non-vaccinated travelers, whether they be visitors or whether they be residents.”
