Stranded Guyanese in Antigua call for Govt’s intervention

COVID-19 impact

More than 20 Guyanese are reportedly stranded in Antigua and Barbuda as a result of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic that has devasted the world. Presently, all international carries are grounded but more so, the ports of entry remain closed.
On June 27, 2020, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, announced that LIAT would be liquidated following a series of unsuccessful months due to COVID-19.

Prior to that, LIAT had suspended all flights into and out of Dominica, Guyana, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Maarten, Grenada, Tortola, BVI, St Lucia and St Kitts due to travel restrictions and border closures imposed by several countries.
However, there are over 10,000 documented Guyanese living in Antigua and they make up 20 per cent of the population of that island.

On the other hand, many go to the island for vacation. One such person is 46-year-old Yonette White, who is originally from New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). She left Guyana on March 13, 2020, and is now a part of the scores of stranded Guyanese on the island.
“I came here to celebrate my anniversary which was on March 15. I was to leave on March 22. It was only for a couple of days here, but Guyana airport was closed on the 18th. We went to LIAT the day before which was the 17th,” she told this publication.
However, on March 17, airline officials in Antigua went ahead and made arrangements for White to travel the following day – March 18.
According to White, when she got to the VC Bird International Airport to board a flight back to Guyana, she was told that the airports in Guyana were closed.
“They said they only knew about Trinidad; they didn’t know about Guyana. So, I am stuck here since then.”

No COVID-19 testing in Antigua
In order to reenter Guyana, one of the regulations is that persons must be tested for the virus.
White has since contacted the Guyana Consulate in Antigua to make arrangements for her travel back home.
“What they are saying is that they don’t have the COVID test being done in Antigua. They don’t have a private lab doing it either. So, what they are saying is that they want to know if the Guyana Government can waiver the test so that when we come into Guyana, we can get the test done in Guyana instead of being out here all the time until; I don’t know when.”
The island only offers the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT), which is not being accepted in Guyana. The results are considered to be not as accurate as viral tests.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), based on experience with antigen-based RDTs for other respiratory diseases such as influenza, in which affected patients have comparable concentrations of influenza virus in respiratory samples as seen in COVID-19, the sensitivity of these tests might be expected to vary from 34 per cent to 80 per cent.
Apart from Antigua, there are other Guyanese stuck in Montserrat, which falls under the Guyana Consulate in Antigua. There are no interconnecting flights from Antigua to any Caribbean island.
With the airports in Guyana closed, only approved chartered flights are being allowed in and out.
White and the other stranded Guyanese are seeking the intervention of the Guyana Government for help which the Consulate there has failed to provide.