— GCAA proposal presented to gov’t

GUYANA is examining re-opening its airports though a four-phase programme which would first see the implementation of a list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at airports to safeguard against COVID-19, followed by re-opened access to regional travel.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, Director- General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, said that he has sent a corresponding Roadmap for Reopening Airports to the Minister of Public Infrastructure for governmental review. Until a decision is made by the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) on what aspects of the plan it will approve or disapprove, Guyana’s airports remain closed.

PHASE ONE

Phase One of the proposed re-opening is being deemed as the planning stage. It involves meetings being held between the government, the GCAA, airport authorities and operators, local tourism bodies and other stakeholders’ groups for a collective understanding.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be developed, which, will state in detail what guidelines should be observed by passengers when visiting the airport; what health/safety guidelines airports should have in place and what should be done if a suspected case of the virus is detected.

For passengers, this includes screening prior to entry into the airport; the wearing of face masks; social distancing guidelines and more. For airports, this includes the implementation of a regular sanitisation programme whereby airports may be re-sanitised at different intervals; special instructions to security and more. This phase could take between one and a half months, according to Field.

PHASE TWO

The Second Phase is the implementation phase. It will see the re-opening of airports to some Regional travel. The Director-General explained when it comes to re-opening travel one has to understand that each country has its unique challenges. He said that while CARICOM will be collaborating with regards to established protocols, it may not be possible for all CARICOM countries to reopen at the same time. Likewise, Guyana may not allow travel to a particular Caribbean country if cases of the virus have spiked there to concerning levels. Field said that the proposal outlines this possibility for July/August.

Even so, the second phase will see continued engagement with involved stakeholders for a constant review of the SOPs and what adjustments may be necessary.

PHASE THREE

The Third Phase will expand to the acceptance of foreign nationals from areas like North America. Field said that this phase will be looked at very meticulously as many international regions have experienced a very high number of cases of the virus.

The Director-General said that the third phase is averaged for a period between August to December. “If we begin to open to the foreign market with foreigners coming in but then in August we realise there is a peak in the cases in New York, which is a point of origin for our flights, or in Miami or in the North America Region, we wouldn’t continue to open our ports because we have an increase in cases in the point of origin,” Field explained. “As much as you will set a timeline for these phases, yet it will be fluid because the situation of each phase may depend on the effectiveness and the implementation of not only the individual measures in your State but also the prevailing environment in the points of origin.”

PHASE FOUR

The Fourth Phase will extend into 2021 and, based on developments around the world as it relates to the pandemic, could see the country going back to normal or adjusting its travel SOPs based on the situation. The Director-General pointed out that the re-opening to travel whether regional or international must also synchronise with the ability of the Ministry of Public Health to deal with COVID-19 cases. “If they cannot have any more individuals in quarantine because of limitation of facility, we’ll have to just start closing that door slowly,” he said.

VIRGIN TERRITORY

When it comes to testing, he said Guyana prefers the Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) test which are used to directly detect the presence of an antigen, rather than the presence of the body’s immune response, or antibodies.

He also said that the measures put in place for testing will have to be consistent across the board for persons coming to Guyana as it is impracticable for there to be a flight of both tested and untested individuals.

The Guyana Chronicle iterates that this proposal has not been approved and is only now up for review. Meanwhile, Guyana will continue with its limited authorised repatriation flights of nationals, cargo flights, medevac flights, technical stops by airplanes for fuel and other special authorised flights.

In all that is done, the GCAA Head reminded that tourists will not travel to a country and airlines will not operate in a country if they do not believe it is hygienic enough or that measures implemented by a particular government are not being adhered to.

He believes that as many countries maneuver ‘virgin territory’ in dealing with the virus, travel will never be the same again as countries seek to protect their greatest resource: humans.