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                 Friday 18 September 2020











                                                                                                            Covid-19 in Aruba



























            ORANJESTAD  —  After  being  completely  shut       groups of 4 people or more.
            down for 3.5 months due to the Covid-19 pan-
            demic, Aruba was ready to reopen its border for  August 7, 2020
            international visitors on July 1st. Firstly, the bor-  •   Bars,  nightclubs  and  rum-shops  must  be  Measures regarding sick employees or clients
            ders were opened to the Caribbean (with the         closed.                                     on business property
            exception  of  Dominican  Republic  and  Haiti),  •   It is not permitted to organize family parties  Every business / organization / institution / em-
            Europe, and Canada and since July 15th, tour-       at home.                                    ployer should take the necessary measures to
            ists  from  the  United  States  and  Canada  were  •   Masks  are  now  mandatory  in  all  locations  ensure that there are no employees or visitors
            welcomed.  What  a  joy  it  was  to  see  the  first   (interior) and also on public transport.  with  respiratory  problems  (cough,  shortness  of
            flight land and the first tourist touching Aruba’s  •   Only  25  people  are  allowed  at  funerals  breath, sore throat) on company property in or-
            ground after such a long time.                      maintaining the protocol.                   der to safeguard the employees’ and visitors’
                                                            •   Churches have to maintain themselves ac-    health and safety. This entails that a visibly sick
            During the shutdown rules and restrictions were     cording  to  the  protocol  and  singing  is  not  visitor with respiratory problems can be denied
            implemented  to  flatten  the  curve  as  soon  as   permitted.                                 entry on premises or asked to abandon prem-
            possible. Schools were closed, bar and restau-  •   Visits and admissions to elderly care homes  ises if already inside.
            rants had to close too, only one person per fam-    are prohibited.
            ily was allowed to go to the supermarkets. There                                                Latest update on cases- September 17, 2020
            was a shelter in place during the day,  a cur-  August 4, 2020                                  54  new  cases  of  COVID-19  reported  and  66
            few at night and many other precautions were  •     Tables in restaurants cannot seat more than  persons recover. 1 person passes away. Active
            taken with the sole purpose of the safety and       4 people, excluding children under 12 years  cases  decrease  to  1.617.  The  total  number  of
            well-being of our residents. Aruba managed to       of age.                                     active  COVID-19  coronavirus  cases  has  de-
            flatten the curve and also to beat the Covid-19  •   Bars (counter) at locations cannot service,  creased to 1.617 (1.608 residents and 9 visitors)
            pandemic fast.                                      as there cannot be chairs at the bar to sit  with  54  new  cases  and  66  recoveries.  The  to-
            A month after opening the border we had the         down.                                       tal cases to date is 3.382 (3.340 residents and
            first  active  Covid-19  cases  registered,  which  •   There cannot be any live musical entertain-  42 visitors).  The total recovered is 1.742 (1.709
            marked the start of the 2nd wave of the pan-        ment going on or with a DJ.                 residents and 33 visitors). The number of persons
            demic.  We  were  all  conscious  that  we  might  •   Indoor group sports must stop.           tested, including visitors, is now 27.347 of which
            get affected by the virus once again, but we  •     Indoor contact sports must stop.            12.084 were persons tested at the airport. 280
            weren’t prepared for the strength in which this  •   Outdoor contact sports must stop.          hospital lab tests were done since Wednesday.
            virus would manifest itself in the 2nd wave. To-  •   Co-education ban will come back into ef-  The  number  of  deaths  related  to  COVID-19  is
            tal cases were increasing at a high speed daily.     fect, where no more than 4 persons can be  now 23 (all residents). Sincere condolences to
            Due to this and especially to protect our visitors   together in public locations.              the family of the deceased. There are currently
            the  Government  of  Aruba  together  with  the                                                 37 persons hospitalized, of whom 11 are in in-
            department of Public Health had to implement  Measures  for  maintaining  social/physical  dis-  tensive care.
            strict rules and protocols again.               tance
            These are the decisions taken by the Govern-    Every business / organization / institution / em-  Advice for travelers
            ment of Aruba up till today:                    ployer should take the necessary measures to  Prior to travel, visitors should download the Aru-
                                                            ensure the necessary social or physical distance  ba Department of Public Health’s Aruba Health
            September 10, 2020                              of a minimum of 1 ½ (5 feet) meters between  App. A mobile resource for information on CO-
            •   The Task Force personnel, in charge of con-  employees, employees and visitors, and visitors.  VID-19 health procedures in Aruba, facilitation
                trolling persons in quarantine and isolation,  This may entail limited access to a few visitors,  of  the  airport  health  screening,  and  faster  re-
                has been doubled, and a fine of 1000 florins  especially in smaller businesses.             sults for Molecular PCR COVID-19 tests taken in
                (one thousand) will also be issued to those                                                 Aruba.q
                who do not adhere to the rules.             Measures for maintaining good hygiene
                                                            Every business / organization / institution / em-
            August 28, 2020                                 ployer should take the necessary measures to
            •   A  Curfew  from  12:00  am  to  5:00  am  has  facilitate  and  promote  good  hygiene  among
                been announced.                             visitors  and  employees  while  on  premises.  This
            •   Avoid large gatherings at the workplace.    may entail mandatory application of alcohol-
            •   Avoid  visiting  family  and  family  parties  in  based hand sanitizer upon entry.                       linda.reijnders@cspnv.com
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