Seychelles opens doors to all countries, dropping 5 from the restricted list
The island nation is open to visitors from all countries again after travel restrictions were removed for India, Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The five were removed from the restricted list in a revised travel advisory released Friday by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health said that for entry into Seychelles visitors have to submit a "negative COVID-19 PCR test done within 72 hours of departure, a complete Health Travel Authorisation submitted at seychelles.govtas.com and valid travel and health insurance to cover COVID-19 related quarantine, isolation or treatment."
For Gainful Occupation Holders (GOP) a 14-day quarantine is no longer required preceding travel to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. GOP holders have the same entry requirements as all visitors.
The announcement is good news for local businesses. especially those in construction that employ workers from India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Anna Gutierrez of Mart Construction welcomed the development. "For me, the restrictions brought more costs because when the workers have to be quarantined for 14 days there is a cost to it. So definitely good news as it removes a lot of burden on us when it comes to payment," she told SNA.
This was echoed by Vincent Bibi, owner of Vince Contractor. "Now we will have fewer costs because the quarantine was a big constraint because once workers arrived they had to still go into quarantine so work was delayed.
With the new travel advisory, visitors will still be required to adhere to other public health measures, which have been put into place in view of the pandemic. These include wearing face masks in public, maintaining social distancing and sanitising hands. Visitors will also be required to ensure that accommodation bookings are made only at licensed establishments that have been certified by the Public Health Authority.
