As all the newspapers and TV are full of covid news I thought I had better cover it in the blog as well.
Despite most activities taking place outside and a breeze blowing away any germs the Antiguains seem very covid aware. The restaurants and shops have wall mounted temperature testing devices (pictured) which you must use on entry and in St Johns (the capital) yesterday everyone was wearing a mask in the street.
Last night when entering a restaurant we were asked for our proof of vaccination, I had my phone with me so was OK, Gill did not but I convinced the waitress that she was a trustworthy person and she let us in. The tables were under cover but there were no walls so a good breeze and we were well spaced out.
It hardly seems necessary for tourists as we had to prove we were jabbed to get into the country and at the airport the authorities had a good system for getting the 300+ passengers through without too much hassle but still recording our test results, vaccination certificates and a declaration that we had not kissed anyone with covid in the last 10 days.
West Indians are so laid back it is surprising they follow the edict but it is good that they do. Yesterday there were two cases of covid registered on the island with a population of 99,000, they have not detected an Omicron case yet.
The first time I came to the Caribbean (Trinidad in 1992) on a BT Consultancy project my colleagues and I had a day trip to a beach on Tobago. There were two signs on the beach "No hanging of hammocks" and "Beware - Falling coconuts", if that all there is to worry about I quickly decided the Caribbean is for me. Everyone we deal with is relaxed and cheerful, even at the car hire desk, normally a location of scams that wind me up, the whole transaction was completed with lots of jokes and good humour, it makes the holiday special.
I like the idea of using coconuts as a measure but of course it raises the Monty Python question about type of coconut being used.