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The U.S. Virgin Islands will revert to restrictions put in place before the Omicron surge of Covid-19 by next week, according to Governor Albert Bryan.
Speaking to the Consortium during an interview Sunday, Mr. Bryan said that this week will be used to notify the public. "We might give it a runway of a week just so people could adjust and we could get the word out," the governor said relative to reverting back to pre-Omicron guidance.
To that end, beginning next week, vaccinated Virgin Islanders will no longer need to provide a negative Covid-19 test before entering the territory, though unvaccinated Virgin Islanders will still need to show a negative Covid-19 test. Puerto Rico took similar action last week.
The moratorium on the sale of alcohol will end beginning next week as well. Additionally, bars/nightclubs and restaurants will be allowed to remain open until the closure time indicated on their license.
There will be no restrictions on dancing within establishments, though persons attending must wear masks and try to social distance as much as possible from other couples and other people.
The limit on how many people can attend an event is 250 beginning next week, be it entertainment, faith event or otherwise. Persons must be vaccinated for events accommodating 250 people, and the establishment owner must receive approval from the V.I. Dept. of Health before moving forward. The health commissioner may also approve larger gatherings at her discretion, according to Governor Bryan. "If there's going to be a mix of people in there, the usual 100-person restrictions are still in place," he said when announcing the order in October that came before the Omicron surge.
Active Covid-19 cases fell to 720 territory-wide Saturday, according V.I. Dept. of Health data, with another substantial decrease expected this week. St. Croix accounted for 411 of the active infections, followed by St. Thomas with 260, and St. John with 49.
The territory's seven-day positivity rate stood at 3.37 percent as of Saturday.
