New COVID-19 testing rules for travel to The Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands Government, on Saturday 11 December 2021, issued new regulations reducing the COVID-19 testing window for arriving international passengers from 72 hours to no earlier than the day before departure. This reduced testing window will be in effect for all flights from December 17, 2021 onward so Cayman Airways urges passengers to plan accordingly .

In addition to reducing the testing window, the regulations were also updated to provide more testing options for passengers on flights from December 17, 2021 onward, by allowing antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (also known as lateral flow tests), once the test is performed and certified by an authorized health care provider or a testing services provider.

The implementation of testing being no earlier than the day before departure and the acceptance of certified antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests will also apply for travel by unvaccinated individuals to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman from Grand Cayman for all flights from December 17th forward.

The Cayman Islands Government has indicated that these measures are a response to the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, which has been deemed a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation.

For more information on these new requirements, the regulations can be found at: 

http://gazettes.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/13130566.PDF 

and 

http://gazettes.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/13130567.PDF