ANGUILLA EXTENDS BORDER CLOSURE TO JULY 30 AND BANS REPATRIATION FROM MANY COUNTRIES

ANGUILLA–A release from Chief Medical Officer Dr. Aisha Andrewin announced that Anguilla’s borders will remain closed until at least July 30.

Exceptions to this are medical emergencies, evacuations and persons wishing to leave Anguilla by air or sea to approved destinations. She said that there are no active or suspected cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in Anguilla at this time, but persons are asked to continue social distancing and practice proper basic hygiene.

The release states that based on the rapidly evolving situation and significant increase in cases in the Americas, the executive council has suspended repatriations from countries and territories with active cases of more than 0.2 per cent of the population. This figure was determined based on the best current technical advice. The suspension is immediate and will remain in place until July 25 at the earliest. The advice to those who have registered for repatriation is to remain in place until further notice.

Persons who have already been approved to travel will not be affected.Countries from which repatriation is permitted includes most of the Caribbean islands and territories, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Portugal. To date almost 200 persons have been repatriated without incident.The release also notes that protecting Anguilla from illegal entry is vitally important and uncontrolled boat landings remain the greatest threat to the island’s health and security. Coordinated land, sea and air patrols remain in place and anyone attempting or assisting an illegal crossing will be arrested. The public is thanked for vigilance in reporting any boat movements.