Map showing Curaçao as code orange.
THE HAGUE--Curaçao on Tuesday was placed on code orange for Dutch travellers, a negative travel advisory which means that leisure travel is not allowed anymore.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday updated the travel advisory for Curaçao from code yellow (safety risks) to code orange (only essential travel). “Risks have increased due to the increase of the number of infections with the coronavirus in Curaçao. That is why the colour has been adapted,” it was stated on the ministry’s website.
On Sunday, another coronavirus patient, the eighth one since the pandemic, died. The deceased was an inhabitant of a nursing home. Some 18 persons are currently hospitalised at Curaçao Medical Center, of whom four are in the intensive care. On Sunday, 38 of the 178 tested, tested positive. On weekends, the number of tests is mostly lower than during the week.
The positive-to-total test ratio is above 20 per cent, meaning one in every five tests in Curaçao is positive. This is a very high number. Since mid-November, the numbers have been going steeply upwards with up to 150 new cases per day.
Despite the high number of cases and the orange code, Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM doesn’t find it necessary that people on vacation in Curaçao immediately return to the Netherlands. However, persons returning from Curaçao must home-quarantine for 10 days.
Curaçao Tourist Bureau stated on its website that it lamented the negative travel advisory per December 8. “Curaçao is doing everything it can to get the local number of infections down. We are counting on the adapted travel advisory to being quickly turned back to code yellow as soon as the number of infections is under control.” The negative travel advisory means a huge blow to the already declining local economy.
After the press conference of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte early November where he urged people not to travel abroad until mid-January, but said that travelling to Curaçao remained possible, Dutch people in large numbers booked a vacation to the island.
There are currently strict COVID-19 measures in place in Curaçao, including a curfew and the prohibition to sell alcohol at bars and restaurants. The vast majority of COVID-19 infections are locally transmitted and mostly occur in a family setting.
The switch to code orange is not only bad news for Dutch tourists who had planned a holiday to Curaçao in the coming weeks; it is big blow for Curaçao people living in the Netherlands who had booked a ticket to visit the family for the Christmas season. Family visits are considered non-essential travel. Curaçao was code yellow since July.
Tour operator TUI in the Netherlands reported shortly after the announcement that from now until the end of the year, thousands of Dutch tourists were to travel to Curaçao. Contact will be established with these clients to see if they want to go to another destination or whether they want their money back.
There are limited options for tourists who still want to go abroad during the holidays. Aruba, Bonaire and St. Maarten were mentioned as options, as these islands are code yellow. The Canary Islands are also categorised as yellow. Currently, there are about 1,900 Dutch tourists in Curaçao who booked with TUI. They can complete their vacations as planned, but will have to go into quarantine upon their return.
