Mia Mottley
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — CARICOM countries will adopt measures that will ensure the safety of their citizens as well as tourists as they prepare to reopen their borders for the post-coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic phase, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Tuesday.
Mottley, who is also the chair of the 15-member regional integration grouping, told the BBC World Service that regional countries, whose economies are highly dependent on the tourism industry, had been severely affected by the virus that was first detected in China last December and blamed for more than 340,000 deaths and 5.5 million infections of others worldwide.
“We are in deep conversations with each other on a common public health protocol within the region, we are also having discussions with the airlines and the cruise industry, but we are not going to be driven by date, we are going to be driven by the satisfaction that we have safety protocols that keep our workers safe, keep our people safe, that keep our visitors safe,” she said.
Mottley said that the region is working through all of the protocols to ensure the safety of both nationals and tourists alike with the relevant stakeholders including the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association that had written to her on the matter.
Mottley said that the pandemic has significantly affected the revenues of governments in the region.
