Antigua and Barbuda is reviewing a policy announced last week that all arriving passengers into the country would be tested for COVID-19.
Last week the government said every person entering the country would need to be tested and will undergo mandatory quarantine, after the island recorded 39 cases of the coronavirus from individuals who recently arrived in the country.
Officials said all 39 had been placed in quarantine since their arrival in Antigua.
But on Saturday Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the protocol is being reviewed and they will now require incoming passengers to get tested before travelling to Antigua.
“We had the situation in which several of the guests who actually had tested positive for COVID, what they did is that they changed their flights and they returned to the United States the following day, even though they were placed in isolation,” Browne announced.
“At least two of them, the health officials tried to resist their efforts to travel and they indicated to the health officials that they were violating their constitutional rights – their right to travel – that they would be holding them against their will if we were to keep them here.
“They reckon that they were not ill and that if we held them here against their will that they will sue us. In fact one of them said if they were to stay here an additional week that she would lose her job and as a consequence if we held them here that she would take us to court.
“So we now have a little problem with our protocols in that testing here will be challenged from the standpoint that it’s considered to be invasive,” Browne added.
The Prime Minister said new protocols will be announced this week.
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