"Do not travel to St Lucia," warns US Embassy, CDC due to recent COVID spike

The US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Wednesday updated its travel advisory for St Lucia and asked people "not to travel".

Thursday, 20th January 2022

"Do not travel to St Lucia," warns US Embassy, CDC due to recent COVID spike

Bridgetown: The US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Wednesday updated its travel advisory for St Lucia. The embassy has issued a "level 4" caution, declaring, "do not travel to St Lucia." The advisory has been updated following the recent spike of coronavirus cases in St Lucia. The embassy has warned all US citizens to cancel their "non-essential" trips to St Lucia due to very high chances of contracting the infection in the Caribbean country. A notice has been issued by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) emphasizing that Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Saint Lucia is issued due to COVID-19, indicating that the country has very high levels of the virus. "If you are fully immunized with an FDA-approved vaccine, your chances of catching COVID-19 and having severe symptoms may be reduced. Please check the CDC's particular advice for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers before planning any foreign travel," the CDC warned. The US Embassy Bridgetown asked US citizens to read all the guidelines before booking their vacation in St Lucia. A whole revised set of protocols have been updated on its official website, warning non-vaccinated to refrain from any travel to the Caribbean Island. The new set of guidelines was issued on 18 January 2022. Currently, St Lucia is witnessing what is being referred to as the "fifth wave of COVID-19". Presently, there are more than 3280 active cases of coronavirus and 29 admitted in medical facilities. As per authorities, two of these patients are very sick. The recent advisory by the CDC is likely to impact the tourism sector of St Lucia, which was already facing havoc due to the global pandemic. Hundreds of people lost employment, while around 314 lost their lives to coronavirus in the country. It is suspected that the current spike of coronavirus is related to beach parties and other large gatherings during festival season.