The Turks and Caicos Islands has updated the travel requirements to the destination, requiring all travelers to submit a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR, NAA, RNA or Antigen test result to its "TCI Assured" portal from a test taken within three days of travel, beginning July 28, 2021.
The date of the sample collection has been reduced from the previous requirement of a test to be taken within five days of arrival, and a "Test Date Calculator" on the "TCI Assured" portal will assist travelers in determining when to take the test.
Approved amendments to the "Arriving Passengers Health Clearance Regulations" will include the acceptance of professionally administered Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Tests (RT-PCR); Nucleic Acid Amplification tests (NAA); RNA or molecular tests; and Antigen tests for entry to the Turks and Caicos Islands. The test must be conducted by a medical laboratory with either of the following credentials: accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP); registered by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA); ISO 15189 certification. Previously, the destination was only accepting RT-PCR tests. Antibody tests and results from home-based test kits will not be accepted.
As part of "TCI Assured," a quality assurance pre-travel program and portal, which has been in place for travelers since July 22, 2020, when the destination opened its borders to tourists, travelers must also have medical / travel insurance that covers medevac (insurance companies providing the prerequisite insurance will also be available on the portal), a completed health screening questionnaire, and certification that they have read and agreed to the privacy policy document. These requirements must be complete and uploaded to the "TCI Assured" portal, which is available on the Turk and Caicos Islands Tourist Board's website, in advance of their arrival.
The Turks and Caicos Islands has remained vigilant and consistent regarding its international traveler requirements, which are the same for vaccinated and non-vaccinated travelers. Because of this, the destination has received an Alert Level 1 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This represents a major milestone in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ vaccine campaign, which began in January 2021 and has resulted in more than 60 percent of the adult population being fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — making it one of the most inoculated countries in the world.
An extensive list of COVID-19 testing facilities across all Sister Islands can be found on the Tourist Board’s official website.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board encourages travelers to consider the CDC’s Travel Health Notices and the WTTC’s Safe Travels vacation destinations for 2020 and 2021. The Islands’ award-winning hotels and resorts, private villas, restaurants and bars, and tour operators are open and / or are accepting bookings.
For more information on the Turks and Caicos Islands, call 1-800-241-0824 or visit www.turksandcaicostourism.com.
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