Governor Lou Leon Guerrero announced today that she will reopen the island’s visitor industry if at least half of the island’s population is fully vaccinated.
In a news conference, the governor said If Guam can fully vaccinate 50% of the island’s adult population (16 years or older) by May 1, she will reopen Guam’s borders to visitors.
Calling the reopening plan “The Path to Half,” the governor said the travel reopening simply means that Guam will make adjustments to its quarantine requirements and there will be an exemption process to government and home/self quarantine.
For example, If someone, whether resident or non-resident, whether from the US or otherwise, enters Guam with a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to arrival, they can avoid quarantine (both government and home/self) but they must download the COVID Alert App and must enroll in SARA Alert for 14 days.
“If they do not have that negative test, they will follow our current protocol. In other words, they will go to government quarantine. Our plan is also contingent upon knowing that the COVID-19 variants do not escape the vaccine,” Leon Guerrero said.
So how does this travel reopening plan differ from Operation Liberate Guam (OLG) announced earlier?
“Our ultimate goal in OLG is still to fully vaccinate 80% of the adult population by July 21, 2021. This goal of fully vaccinating 50% by May 1, 2021 was a threshold designed to adjust travel quarantine requirements,” Leron Guerrero said.
She added: “We still have a lot of preparation, and we need to ensure these goals are met before reopening but we need to prepare now. Part of our initiative is to ensure industry workers are vaccinated and protected. And robust testing protocol for industry workers is necessary.”
According to the governor, the Island Beautification Task Force is already coordinating with GVB to clean up the island and set up steady vaccination and community testing schedules.
Although the plan is to reopen Guam tourism by May 1, the governor stressed that this does not mean existing restrictions will be dropped like the limited occupancies in bars, restaurants, and retail outlets. She did say that she’s open to gradually easing more restrictions depending on the progress of the fight against COVID-19.
“We absolutely do not want to go through another strict lockdown This requires the community to remain vigilant and be careful and to continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance, even if you are vaccinated and in accordance with CDC and DPHSS guidelines. We are not out of the woods yet and we don’t expect normalcy until the end of the year or so,” Leon Guerrero said.
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