Cayman Islands Requiring COVID-19 Test Within One Day of Departure

In an effort to control the spread of the ultra-contagious Omicron variant, the Cayman Islands will require inbound international travelers to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken the day before their departure for entry, starting December 17.

Previously, fully vaccinated foreign travelers were allowed to enter the country with a negative test taken within 72 hours of their departure for the islands. According to Travel + Leisure, the government will broaden the types of COVID-19 tests it will accept to include rapid antigen tests, as these produce results quite quickly in comparison to PCR tests.

Since November, fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S., U.K. and Canada have been allowed to visit the Cayman Islands quarantine-free. Inbound travelers must now provide proof of vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test taken within the past day and an approved travel authorization, which they can apply for via an online portal.

While unvaccinated tourists are prohibited from visiting the islands, there are exemptions for certain types of unvaccinated individuals, such as returning residents, work permit holders or those with close relatives in the country or who own a business or property there. These select types of unvaccinated travelers are required to complete a 10-day quarantine upon arrival.

Travelers coming from countries where less than 60 percent of the resident population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) must also quarantine for 10 days upon entering the country.

At the end of November, it was decided that quarantine-free visitors would be required to take lateral flow tests on the second, fifth and tenth days of their trip, according to the government’s website.