As from 30 June, the requirement to wear a face mask in line with Covid regulations will be lifted, which means people will not be required to wear a face mask in a public place, unless those running places such as restaurants and shops require their customers to do so. In addition, people arriving into the Cayman Islands from that date onwards do not have to provide proof of a negative Covid test in order to enter the country.
On Friday the government issued three new regulations which come into effect on 30 June: one that lifts the requirement to wear a facemask; one that stops the need for a negative Covid test to enter Cayman; and one that continues the pension holiday.
Masks will not be mandatory in schools and restaurant servers will not be required to wear face masks. Mask-wearing for people using public transport will be up to the bus or taxi driver themselves.
In addition, unvaccinated Caymanians and residents will not need to quarantine for seven days upon arrival into the Cayman Islands and instead need to apply to Travel Cayman for a travel authorisation no less than five days before leaving for Cayman. And while travellers won’t need to get a negative Covid test prior to travel to Cayman on or after 30 June, they will still need to complete a travel declaration form on the Travel Cayman website.
Cruise ship passengers must still have to undergo an approved vaccine course at least 14 days prior to joining on a cruise ship bound for Cayman.
Speaking to the Caymanian Times last week, Tourism and Travel Minister Kenneth Bryan said that he was happy with these new changes to the regulations, having stated that it was important for Cayman to stay in line with Cayman’s main source market, the United States.
“We can’t be seen as continuing to have these hurdles in the way for the freedom of travel,” he had said. “We have to continuously monitor the freedom of travel to make sure that we stay ahead of the game from a tourism perspective.”
These new regulations expire on 31 August 2022.
Pension holiday stays
In addition to Covid restrictions easing, government also issued new regulations as they relate to the paying of pensions, extending the pension holiday until 30 September, one of a raft of requests made by the Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart to the Premier last week in order to help ease the burden of the cost-of-living increase.
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