Covid updates
by Noonsite 25 Jul 2022 23:45 AEST
Solomon Islands © Noonsite
Maritime borders open:
The big news this month is that from 11.59pm on July 31st, foreign flagged vessels including recreational small craft will once again be allowed into New Zealand with the re-opening of NZs maritime borders. Also in the South Pacific Vanautu opened its borders on July 1st to all travelers regardless of vaccination status. The Solomon Islands, however, re-opened to vaccinated travelers only. A number of small Pacific countries have announced they will also be re-opening international borders on 1 August including American Samoa, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati. The Government of Tonga have at last announced the opening of international borders in October 2022.
Restrictions easing:
This month all ports in Ecuador re-opened and restrictions were eased to permit the entry of non-vaccinated crew with arrival testing. Montserrat have simplified entry restrictions with all travelers having to test on arrival. Indonesia have removed restrictions for fully vaccinated arrivals and the visa on arrival and visa exemptions are available as before Covid times. Since the start of the month, Thailand have removed the Thailand Pass and US$10,000 health insurance requirement, with proof of either vaccination or a pre-arrival negative test the only Covid paperwork needed for entry. St. Helena in the South Atlantic will be removing arrival testing and quarantine from August 8th.
All restrictions lifted:
South Africa, Germany, Portugal and the Azores all lifted Covid entry restrictions at the start of the month. In the Caribbean Trinidad and Tobago removed all testing requirements as did the British Virgin Islands and Bonaire. Mauritius have also dropped arrival testing for yacht crew and all arrival procedures are back to normal.
Entry to Australia for yachts and small craft is also back to pre-Covid procedures with the Maritime Declaration of Health no longer a pre-requisite for entering the country. All designated small craft ports of entry are now open and arriving into Australia by sea is back to being a relatively straightforward process provided you let the authorities know well in advance of your arrival, are well informed about the requirements, including biosecurity procedures and are prepared with all the required documentation.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of noonsite.com