Bonaire eases lockdown measures; Curaçao reports record low new infections

The island of Bonaire, part of the Dutch Caribbean, is set to continue easing lockdown measures on Thursday. Nearby, on the island of Curaçao, no new infections or fatalities from Covid-19 were reported for the first time in three months, ANP reported.

Bars, restaurants, and casinos on Bonaire can stay open until midnight starting on Thursday. Weddings and funerals can now be attended by a maximum of 100 people. Nightclubs on the island will still remain closed for the time being, the Lieutenant Governor of Bonaire, Edison Rijna, announced.

The easing of the coronavirus restrictions was announced because the number of infection cases on Bonaire dropped to ten. At the same time, 68 percent of the Bonaire population has received one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. More than a third of the island's 20,000 inhabitants are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

It was previously announced that Bonaire would become the first region that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs would assign the code yellow warning level, downgraded from code orange. As a result, travelers will be told they can visit the island from May 19 without having to quarantine or present a negative Covid-19 test upon returning to the Netherlands.

However, a negative test is still required to enter Bonaire, as the Netherlands remained on Bonaire’s list of high-risk regions.

On Curaçao, the number of Covid-19 patients in the hospital has fallen significantly. Some 27 people infected with coronavirus were being treated, compared to more than 130 reported in the first week of April. The number of patients in the intensive care units also halved during the same period.

The positive trend is largely due to the fast vaccine rollout in Curaçao. As of last week, some 74,000 have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. Out of 158,000 residents of Curaçao, 28,500 were also fully vaccinated. Due to the improving situation most of the Dutch doctors dispatched to Curaçao in April have now returned home.

Curaçao started relaxing their coronavirus measures on May 11, six days earlier than originally planned.