Travellers from China now require negative COVID test to enter Guyana

As part of new travel guidelines instituted by the Health Ministry, persons travelling to Guyana from the People’s Republic of China will now be required to produce a negative COVID-19 test result to be granted entry into the country.
A travel advisory issued by Director of the National COVID-19 Task Force Secretariat, Colonel (retd) Nazrul Hussain, on Thursday indicated that this move is in light of the present surge in COVID-19 cases in certain parts of the world, and to decrease the chance of entry of a novel variant of concern.
The Health Ministry’s requirement is a negative COVID-19 test that is of no less than 48 hours’ duration, or documentation of recovery for all passengers two years and older travelling directly or in transit to Guyana from the People’s Republic of China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. This new measure will take effect from January 8, 2023, and all passengers would be required to show a bona fide negative test result to the airline or carrier upon departure. It applies to these passengers regardless of nationality and vaccination status, and will also apply to persons travelling from China via third country transit and to passengers on connecting flights to Guyana.
“Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before the flight can provide documentation of recovery from COV1D-19 in lieu of a negative test result. Airlines and other ports of entry must confirm the negative COVID-19 test results or documentation of recovery for all passengers before they board, or deny boarding to non-compliant passengers,” the Task Force has outlined.
According to the notice, it was highlighted that the requirement to show a bona fide negative test result has been shown to decrease the number of infected passengers boarding airlines, and it will help to slow the spread of the virus as Government works to identify and understand any potentially new variant that may emerge.
“The Ministry of Health will continue to monitor travel patterns, adjust our approach as needed, and keep the Guyanese public informed in a timely manner.”
Globally, there have been over 657 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6.6 million deaths, reported to the World Health Organization. As of December 2022, over 13 billion vaccine doses have been administered.
This week, the Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution met to discuss the COVID-19 situation in mainland China. The China CDC analysis showed a predominance of Omicron lineages BA.5.2 and BF.7 among locally-acquired infections. BA.5.2 and BF.7 together accounted for 97.5 percent of all local infections as per genomic sequencing. A few other known Omicron sublineages were also detected, albeit in low percentages. These variants are known, and have been circulating in other countries; and at the present time, no new variant has been reported by the China CDC.
Last year June, the Guyana Government had lifted the COVID-19 testing requirement for international travel. Then in October, persons travelling to Guyana had no longer needed to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19.