Very interesting ....where are they coming from being how the island has been so isolated for months now due to low travel? AND in light of all the COVID pre-testing, one has to wonder where these cases are coming from. Makes me wonder IF all the covid tests from travelers are useful.

Even more interesting, the gov. of NY went nuts when there was a wedding with over 6000 people in attendance on Nov 8. amongst the Orthodox community. Given such a tight community, I have yet to hear of a single case from that event.

He should have gone nuts. That’s just irresponsible.

Just a reminder--this board is about SXM, not the status of Covid in the world at large.

Scuba, I’ll give you my observations from over the last two weeks and you can see they’re having the same issues in SXM as others in regards to compliance.

Arriving at the airport, there are signs encouraging social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands. Airport personnel and arriving passengers were all wearing masks. In Philipsburg, Front Street shops, all of the workers were wearing masks and there was signage on the shop entrances advising of COVID-19 protocols in effect. Most of the stores we went in did a temperature check and required you to use hand sanitizer before entering. Restaurants on the French side in Grand Case and Orient Bay, all the ones we frequented were ‘open air’, had servers wearing masks while the patrons wore masks until they were seated. The beach restaurants were a mixed bag with most of the servers providing beach service without masks with few exceptions.

The people in the service industry whose livelihood depends on tourism all appear to be taking the precautions seriously but there’s a breakdown in other areas. While driving to dinner one evening in Grand Case, we were going through the neighborhoods between the main road and their downtown area where we witnessed multiple small gatherings around local bars and grocery stores with no mask wearing or social distancing. There were several groups of locals who (groups of 10-20 people) of all age groups milling around and partying. I think Sunday’s are a big locals’ day at the beach as well and that’s where I saw similar issues at Orient Bay. Typical French/European greeting with the double cheek kissing among patrons as well as with staff and patrons. This was a similar practice at dinners we witnessed in Orient Village, again amongst locals and rarely with staff.

If testing was perfect (we know it’s not) and everyone who got their negative test self quarantined prior to traveling to St. Martin and they didn’t get exposed in route, you are still going to have a issue once you get there. Was it worth it for my wife and I? Absolutely! I never felt unsafe, we wore masks when we went in doors, which was rarely and did all the same things we’ve been doing at home with social distancing and hand washing. We helped add money to their economy and in some small way keep these folks in business. You can’t control how others behave but if you’re protecting yourself then you’re also protecting others.

I would be surprised if their COVID-19 numbers didn’t go up as the increased number of travelers arrive. There’s just too many variables for them to control. Increasing therapies for treating the virus early, coupled with a vaccine will hopefully make the management of their opening to tourism possible. I would venture a guess that the answer will reveal itself over the next 3-4 weeks.

Thank-you for the information.