Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Pay your money and get authentic COVID-19 test or face 250k fine- GCAA Director General
Kaieteur News- In response to claims that the penalties for persons found submitting forged COVID-19 test results are too harsh, the Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), (retd) Colonel Egbert Field has said that persons can simply avoid them by doing the right thing, which is paying for an authentic COVID-19 test and submitting test results that are not falsified.
The GCAA has issued a sound warning that anyone found guilty of attempting to leave Guyana with fake COVID-19 results will pay a fine of $250,000 or they will be prevented from flying in the future, and be added to the no-fly list.
Furthermore, the Director-General who made his assertion while speaking to Kaieteur News via telephone yesterday, said that the penalty is not too harsh, as it ensures maximum compliance by persuading persons who may be thinking of submitting falsified COVID-19 results to do the right thing.
Director-General of the GCAA, (retd) Colonel Egbert Field
He lamented that there is a possibility that someone submitting fake documents can be infected with the virus, and as they board a plane, they put everyone they come into contact with at-risk, aiding in the further spread of the virus. According to the Director, it is a choice they are making between doing the right thing and “putting people six feet under”.
The announcement of the penalty was given last week, shortly after the Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony had disclosed that the government has received reports of persons attempting to enter Guyana with forged COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test results. Dr. Anthony had announced that a probe was launched by the government following the reports which were given by the operating airlines and that specific reports were not received of persons attempting to leave the country with fake results. However, the warning by the GCAA suggests those circumstances might have changed.
Further, the GCAA’s Director-General told this publication that he is now receiving complaints from airlines of persons attempting to leave with forged results. Field said that at the authority ’s last meeting with the airlines which was held last Friday, some of them reported that they received forged submissions from passengers, but specific numbers were not given except in one instance when an airline claimed to have found around eight persons submitting falsified results.
Last year, as Guyana’s airports reopened to international traffic, the government established strict measures for incoming passengers, which included them being mandated to produce a negative PCR test before entering Guyana. The incoming passengers would take the test in their country of origin, which is the country they are currently in, at least seven days before their scheduled flight and are required to produce those results when boarding it. If the results exceeded that timeline, they would not be allowed to board the flight.
Another established measure was that persons who produce negative PCR test results exceeding 72 hours, would be required to take another test when they arrive in Guyana, which is usually conducted by the Eureka Medical Laboratories Incorporated for $25,000.
Notably, the government has alerted airport authorities of the respective countries where reports of incoming passengers with forged results are coming from.
Additionally, countries like the United States of America require COVID-19 antigen tests for travel from Guyana while other countries may require PCR tests.
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