Does anyone have issues in going to Flamingo Beach Resort this August since CDC has St. Martin at Level 4.
We will be going in August for 12 days. Haven't been back since hurricane.
Thanks for any imput. Ron

Heading down in 11 days. Can't come soon enough and we have no issues.

St. Martin or SINT MAARTEN???? If you're going to Flamingo, it would be Sint Maarten. My understanding is that the CDC may have just put about every country on the planet at Level 4???

Regardless, I personally wouldn't be going anywhere unless I was fully vaccinated. And I am. So, I have plans to visit in June AND October this year.

Thank you

We are both vaccinated.
Thanks

OK, there ya go. Enjoy!

Yup...just read 80% of the world is level 4. Kind of a pointless system when SXM is on par with India AND Massachusetts (all of the USA) Rating need a bit of adjustment

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html

The US State Department has just aligned its travel advisory levels with those of the CDC for international travel. Over 80% of countries are currently rated at level 4, including Canada, Mexico, and all of Europe, due to the pandemic. If the CDC and State Department used the same criteria for domestic travel within the USA, virtually every state would also be classified as a level 4 travel advisory.

The island, in terms of cases, is actually one of the safer destinations in the world right now, despite the advisory. For the record, it is only the French side (St Martin) that is rated at level 4, the Dutch side (Sint Maarten) is actually a level 3 advisory. So you should not feel any less safe than you would at home.

We leave in May for 4 weeks at Flamingo. You'll enjoy it there.

If you look at the map they all are ....thus my point of equating MA with India

Not sure I understand the need for your clarification. I believe that is what I said, and it reinforces your point. My comments were directed to the OP, not to you. I happened to be writing my post at the same time you were posting yours, so did not see your post before replying. These things happen!

For the record, the map shows the US as a full red zone, which is equivalent to level 4. However, technically, neither the US State Department nor the CDC promulgates official travel advisory levels for domestic travel, at least not that I have been able to find anywhere on their sites.

I assumed a level 4 travel advisory was meant as a deterrent to travel to those areas indicated .....and thus someone stating SXM is level 4 is kinda pointless since 80% or the world is level 4.....point was the validity of the map equating basically all of the world as level 4 which, in my brain, doesn't work

Saying that the CDC doesn't promulgate a US domestic travel advisory to US level 4 states just makes the whole deal a bit hard to accept. There has to be SOME differentiation between actual potential areas of infection.....India does not equal most US states in my brain anyway

The State Department travel advisories are not just for Covid-19 rates or pandemics, but designed to cover many situations. A pandemic changes everything. The point of level 4 is simply to indicate that it is NOT recommended to travel there right now. In more normal times it could be for any number of reasons, including crime, political unrest or similar threats.

The primary purpose of the advisories is not to differentiate levels of relative risk specifically for areas where Covid-19 is still circulating above a specified level. If below that level, some jurisdictions, such as Dutch Sint Maarten (level 3) will receive a rating below level 4.

There are other tools available online to weigh the relative risk of Covid-19 in specific jurisdictions, if you decide to travel anyway in spite of the level 4 advisory. Given the nature of the pandemic, they are constantly changing. Here are links to two interactive summaries that I use.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...s-rank-against-american-states-1.5051033

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...e-canada-and-other-key-nations-1.4881500

My belief is that the CDC, though well-intentioned, is kind of 'overcooking the goose' here with these latest advisories. For example, St. Barthelemy is also listed as Category 4 through there hasn't been a COVID-19 case on that island for over a week. So maybe the advisory is more to warn people about the hotel costs there which are averaging about $1,200 per night! Not only is St. Bart's expensive, but it is extremely safe so the Cat 4 rating would indicate there was very little research being done by the CDC regarding many of these destinations. Or, could this simply be an approach being used to keep tourism dollars in the states this year? But, in reality many of the countries on this list should fall somewhere between category 2 and 3. Another example is Spain, where cases have been very low for the past two months. Using a 'broad brush' approach by the CDC doesn't really work other than promulgating fear and that is never helpful. But, as Carol pointed out above if you are fully vaccinated you'll have little to worry about as long as you follow common sense protocols (such as mask wearing when inside at crowded environments). So, don't let this inhibit your plans to travel to St. Maarten this year.

I don't think the "broad brush" approach creates fear....more like people will tend to just ignore it and appropriately do their own research.

But I guess it's good to know that the CDC says travel to NIGERIA, UGANDA and CHINA is "Low risk...Level 1"

On a similar but different note: I just read that Macron of France has plans to allow fully vaccinated residents of the USA to visit France. He plans to have it in place in May.....maybe other countries will follow suit...and....it might make the 3 day testing for St. Martin unnecessary

Actually, St Barts isn’t doing as well as you think. Last Wednesday they reported 27 new cases for the previous week, and they already had 11 new cases for last week. St Martin (French side) had 9 new cases the previous week, and 2 new cases as of last Wednesday. The population of St Martin is about 36,000, and St Barts is just under 10,000. St Martin and St Maarten are both doing better than St Barts.

I did locate that statistic, but the data you may have looked at was through April 10th of this year. Since April 16th they have had zero cases. And, in 13 months of this pandemic they have had a grand total of just one death. But, that's not the point I'm trying to make. The CDC is, strictly in my opinion, sweeping way to many countries and territories into this Level 4 category. There are indeed areas of the world where people, at this time, should refrain from traveling to. Like Brazil or South Africa. Maybe the CDC doesn't have the resources to analyze every tourist destination, but this 'lump dump' into Category 4 does not make sense to me. What is badly needed presently is for the CDC to update international travel guidelines for those who are fully vaccinated. BTW, the total population of both French and Dutch St. Martin/Maarten is actually around 77,700 residents when you combine both sides of the island (so it's even better here than we think!).

No vaccinations for us. At least not now. Went to both SXM and Aruba last October. Heading back to SXM in May and October. Can't wait!!!

Good luck and stay safe. Just had a friend pass away last Friday night from COVID-19, a guy a knew for over five decades. It was not a pleasant death for him. He came down with the virus one week before his first vaccination dose was scheduled.