Removing Covid-19 travel restrictions demanded by SKNLP

Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris has been asked by St Kitts-Nevis Labor Party (SKNLP) leader Dr. Terance Drew to relax all travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic so that residents can return home for pleasure, commerce, or to participate in the next elections.

He told the Prime Minister that using these norms to prevent people from electing the government of their choice would have disastrous results.

"The right to vote is a precious one. Voting is open to all Kittitians and Nevisians, whether they live in the Federation or elsewhere. In order for Dr. Harris and his three elected cabinet members to thwart the democratic right to vote, they cannot resort to administrative means. Drew elaborated.

The Political Leader stated that he and his party had engaged in extensive discussions with nationals living in the Diaspora who expressed concern that the online pre-approval process would be used to prohibit them from returning home for voting.

All Kittitians and Nevisians living abroad and those who have been away for vacation or education want to know when they can return home to vote for a new government that represents their interests and priorities. That, my friends, is democracy in action. For the sake of public health, no Prime Minister and his cronies should remove this privilege, Dr. Drew added.

St. Kitts and Nevis is in the greatest possible position to learn how to live with COVID, thanks to the recent availability of antiviral and therapeutic treatments and tools on the worldwide market, thanks to the vaccination of 82.8% of adults and the admittance of the Chief Medical Officer on March 1, 2022. The World Health Organization urged all governments to remove travel restrictions and prohibitions in a study released on January 19, 2022, stating that they "provide no benefit" to justify the economic and social hardships that people face.

As a way to boost economic activity, tourism, and citizen mobility, existing protocols should be eliminated and replaced.