Lesley, with all due respect, true paranoia (being paranoid) is a mental health condition but I do understand where you are coming from.

Kind of like here in the states, some will choose to go out to restaurants (if they are in an area where they can be open) and some will not. Some will choose to travel and some will not and some states have "advisories", some have "orders" and other restrictions when it comes to travel into or out of particular states. We were supposed to go to Pennsylvania next weekend for a dog event but due to their travel/entry "order", the state of Ohio travel "advisory" and restrictions my wife's employer is trying to impose, we chose to cancel. Too much could go wrong.

I would have in SXM and rented a vehicle from you last month had it not been for multiple things happening that were totally out of my control. We had air at a good price and a decent schedule, we had lodging booked, car rental booked and were looking forward to seeing friends and relaxing. I had no "reservations" about coming to SXM, but between Delta cancelling our flights and the hoops SXM required (and these were constantly changing at that time and are still changing), it was too much. I could have rebooked with Delta at a higher fare, lost 2 days of what we had originally planned, my wife would have not been able to take advantage of a work holiday, and then the final dealbreaker was Delta requiring us to overnight in Atlanta. Throw in the Covid testing hassle and not knowing for sure what the SXM requirements would be, we threw in the towel for November, but I am hopeful for March.

You also have the INCONSISTENT at best SXM entry requirements, test acceptance/rejection and what some have to go through to get approved. The SXM Health approval seems to approve one person of the couple but reject the other in many cases. This happened with pat recently and had it not been for her persistence and the persistence of kim, she and John may not be there now. I know another couple who went through the same thing. You have a couple who take the exact same test, submit negative results and yet one is approved and the other is denied.

There has been confusion over testing requirements, which tests are acceptable with some home tests (clearly stated as NOT being acceptable on the SXM EHAS site) apparently making it through yet others being rejected. I know SXM is starting to accept a broader range of tests (which should help people who want to travel be able to do so) but overall, the process of getting to SXM has not been easy.

A lot of people in the US are scared and a lot are being cautious but still living their life the best they can. Until things settle down, it is going to remain like this and it is going to impact travel.

Best of luck to you, the island and our island friends who we KNOW are being severely impacted.

You asked the same question back on August 22 and while some things have improved, others have not although it does appear a vaccine is much closer now. My guess is you will get about the same responses here as you did back in August.

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