The region’s leading public health agency has stayed clear of prescribing any changes to travel entry requirements for its member states in response to the fast-spreading COVID-19 variant Omicron.The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) declared Monday that “the decision to impose entry requirements belongs to the national authorities”.Since the first case of Omicron was announced on November 24 by South Africa, with the first positive sample dating back to November 9, scores of countries have closed their borders and others have imposed stricter measures to keep the variant at bay.CARPHA’s Executive Director Dr Joy St John has cautioned that such a move requires serious consideration.“It should be based on the country’s capacities for border surveillance, community surveillance, testing capacity and the ability of the health services to cope with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 infection and the long-lasting effects,” she said.
