Entry And Quarantine Policy Saba

This policy is applicable as of July 1st, until July 15th, being the duration of the latest emergency ordinance of Saba. The epidemiological situation on Saba is good. The island is Covid-19 free and is still able to contain Covid-19. This means that the alert level is currently scaled down to level 1, and that measures on island are relaxed. Bars and restaurants are open, all shops and schools are open and there is no enforced physical distancing of 1.5 metres between persons or limitations on gatherings.

General outlook

The focus of the latest emergency ordinance is on the entry through our borders. Looking at the epidemiological situation in Europe, North America, Central America and South America and looking at what our sister islands within the Kingdom are doing, this entry and quarantine policy for Saba has been established to ensure containment and not over exhaust the public health department and healthcare. Reference is also made to the attached essential worker procedure, allowing some essential workers to perform work during their quarantine under strict hygiene requirements, and to the ZVK procedure for medical travel which exempts patients from quarantine if they adhere to very strict requirements while off island.

Persons wishing to enter Saba, must send an email to info@Sabagov.nl.

This entry policy is risk-based. Each country of origin will be classified in three categories by the public health department based on the current level of Covid-19 and the level of spread of Covid-19 within the relevant country. Based on the monitoring and testing capacity on Saba, at no point should there be more than 50 people in quarantine.

Tourism

The OMT evaluates the situation continuously. As of July 1st, leisure travel between Curacao, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be possible, if passengers do not transit in St. Maarten, because these islands have a similar epidemiological situation and are very low risk. Because St. Maarten and Aruba are opening their borders to also North America, leisure travel from those islands remains prohibited. The possibility of leisure travel from medium and high risk countries is not expected before October 1st, 2020.

Persons that wish to travel to Saba for leisure, must send an email to info@Sabagov.nl. The island governor will decide, with advice from OMT members. If approved, the person will receive a letter, which is required for traveling to the island.

Outgoing travel

Outgoing travelers do not need the permission of the island governor, but in many cases persons may require authorization from the destination country. If a person is leaving with the intention of returning to the Saba, the request for return must also be sent to info@Sabagov.nl. The local government will only facilitate repatriation and essential travel, therefore arrangements for any other travel is at the responsibility of the traveler. If people wish to go on holiday, they will be informed that only Saban residents will be allowed to return to Saba, and quarantine will be required if the country they travel to is categorized as medium or high risk, for which they will have to bear the costs themselves. It is therefore advised that quarantine requirements be discussed with employers beforehand to determine how this may affect the traveler’s return to work.

Risk categorization of the countries valid from July 1st

The Saba government will publish on the Facebook page the valid categorization of a selected amount of relevant countries and update it if anything changes. Countries selected are origins that are most commonly traveled from to Saba. If a person would like to come from a country that is not categorized, the public health will advise the OMT and the island governor accordingly.

GIS Saba.