Bahamas resort offers free private flights or courtesy stays for guests who test positive for COVID-19
A resort in the Bahamas has a unique offer during the pandemic. Guests of Baha Mar, located on the island of New Providence, who test positive for COVID-19 while staying at the resort can get either a free private plane ride to the U.S. or a complimentary two-week stay.
"Baha Mar is raising the bar again by taking the unprecedented step to be the first and only resort to provide courtesy private jet service back to the US or a free stay for guests who test positive for COVID-19 prior to departure from the resort," the company says on its website.
Guests who choose to stay at the resort will be placed in a courtesy suite to quarantine and get a dining credit of $150 per person, per day, for up to 14 days, or until the guest tests negative for COVID-19, according to the resort.
If a guest wants to leave the Bahamas upon testing positive for COVID-19, the resort will pay for private air travel to the continental U.S. for them and their immediate family.
So long as the resort is the first destination visitors go to while in the Bahamas, they are eligible for the offer. The initiative is part of the resorts "Travel with Confidence'" program.
"It is our hope that through this program, our guests will feel confident when booking a stay with us, as well as valued and supported by the Baha Mar family should any issues arise during their trip," the company said.
People coming to the U.S. from the Bahamas are required to test negative for COVID-19 before they board their flight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has also classified the Bahamas as having a "high" level of COVID-19, meaning that "travelers should avoid all nonessential travel."
New Providence is also under a daily curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The resort has implemented safety measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Guests can receive complimentary rapid antigen tests as soon as they arrive and as they are preparing to leave. Baha Mar also mandates masks in public areas, and social distancing.
The country's COVID dashboard has not been updated since September, but Johns Hopkins reports that the country has had just over 8,600 confirmed cases over the past year.
"When cases have gone up we tightened measures to save lives. When the cases reduced, we responsibly loosened the measures to allow more openness," Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on March 7 while addressing the country's vaccine rollout.
The country got its first 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 10.
"As I have said before, please ignore the fake news about COVID-19 vaccines. Lies and misinformation are being spread on the Internet and social media. This nonsense is designed to make you afraid of vaccines," he said. "...Getting vaccinated is the way for us to begin to start to end these difficult and hard times."
