About The Covid
Covid Risks To Consider - The Facts
***CRITICAL COVID TESTING UPDATE*** NOVEMBER 28***
***EXCELLENCE EL CARMEN'S FREE RETURN COVID TESTING PROGRAM HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL MANDATORY TESTS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED. AS IT PERTAINS TO GUESTS FTOM THE USA, ANTIGEN TESTS ARE PROVIDED. FOR CANADIANS, PCR TESTS ARE PROVIDED. RESULTS CAN TAKE UP TO 48 HOURS SO YOU SHOULD PLAN THE DATE AND TIME OF YOUR TESTS WITH THE CONCIERGE BASED UPON YOUR FLIGHT DEPARTURE AND COUNTRY’S REQUIREMENT. TESTS ARE OFFERED BETWEEN 9am AND NOON EVERYDAY. HOWEVER, IF THE RESORT DISCONTINUES THEIR FREE TESTING PROGRAM, THE CONCIERGE /RESORT WILL ARRANGE TESTING FOR THOSE WHOM NEED IT. BUT, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
***NEW OMICRON VARIANT UPDATE***NOVEMBER 28***
BE VERY AWARE THAT NEW COVID TRAVEL ENTRY/EXIT RULES AEE BEGINNING TO ROLL-OUT ACROSS THE GLOBE NOW DUE TO THE OMICRON VARIANT. BE SURE TO APPRISE YOURSELF ON YOUR COUNTRY'S RULES FROM A LEGITIMATE SOURCE. WE SUGGEST YOUR COUNTRY'S GOVERNMENT WEBSITE.
1. DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS TO RE-ENTER. RESEARCH WHAT YOURS ARE! SOME COUNTRIES REQUIRE PCR TESTS, OTHERS REQUIRE ONLY LATERAL FLOW TESTS. SOME ALLOW YOUR TEST TO BE TAKEN UP TO 72 HOURS BEFORE FLYING, OTHERS 48 HOURS. SOME COUNTRIES REQUIRE NOTHING AT ALL. CURRENTLY AS OF SEPT 24, 2021, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DOES NOT REQUIRE A NEGATIVE COVID TEST TO ENTER TO THE COUNTRY FROM THE USA. PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK TO DISCOVER IF A NEGATIVE COVID TEST IS REQUIRED FROM YOUR COUNTRY: https://www.godominicanrepublic.com/newsroom/coronavirus/
2. FOR RETURN TO THE USA, YOU CAN NOW BUY TESTS IN THE USA THAT CAN BE TAKEN BY VIDEO AND ARE ACCEPTED ON CERTAIN AIRLINES (I KNOW AMERICAN AND DELTA ARE TWO). HERE'S A LINK TO INFORMATION ON THAT (ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINE THOUGH!!!): https://www.afar.com/magazine/cdc-approves-at-home-covid-tests-for-international-travel
NIGEL HAS PREVIOUSLY BOUGHT AND USED THESE SELF-ADMINISTERED TESTS FOR RETURN TO THE USA. HIS EXPERIENCE WAS EXCELLENT:
https://qured.com/fit-to-fly-usa/
https://qured.com (THIS LINK TAKES YOU TO THE UK SITE FOR SOME REASON BUT IT WILL ASK IF YOU WANT TO REDIRECT TO THE USA SITE)
3. TESTING TO RETURN TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY IS NOT A BIG DEAL AT ALL. NOMS AND I HAVE DONE IT A TON OF TIMES. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY SIMPLE. IN THIS SITUATION, IF ON-SITE TESTING IS REQUIRED, THE CHANCES ARE THAT WILL BE SCHEDULED AND DONE ON-SITE, TOO.
BOTH NOMI AND NIGEL ARE FULLY VACCINATED. ACTUALLY, TRIPLE VACCINATED!
HERE IS A LINK TO EASILY DIGESTABLE INFORMATION REGARDING THE PANDEMIC IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. TO GET COMPARATIVE INFORMATION FROM THE GRAPHS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LINK PAGE, SLIDE YOUR CURSOR OVER THE INFO.
MASKS ARE STILL AN IMPORTANT WAY TO MITIGATE COVID SO PLEASE GET GOOD ONES!
We wear Halo Masks. We have found them to be the best available product on every level. They are so comfortable that we forget they are attached to our faces. They aren't cheap, but they are worth every penny.https://halolife.io
THE RESORT STAFF ARE 100% VACCINATED. WE BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE ATTENDING OUR WEDDING IS ALSO FULLY VACCINATED. HERE IS A LINK TO THE RESORT'S HEALTH PROTOCOL PAGE:
We have left the information below as it’s still valid.
Why an overseas wedding and why do we believe it's safe? There are many reasons for this but they fit comfortably into three areas:
1. Our recent overseas travel experiences.
2. Mitigations in place.
3. Vaccines becoming widely available.
When traveling, we get PCR tested 48 hours before departure and between 5-7 days after we return. Upon returning, we strictly social distance until we have the results of our Covid test. In California, test sites are widely available and typically return results within 48 hours. You may wish to consider a similar protocol as it relates to our wedding, if possible.
We wear Halo Masks. We have found them to be the best available product on every level. They are so comfortable that we forget they are attached to our faces. They aren't cheap, but they are worth every penny.
From Our Experience:
Flying: Mostly not an issue on the plane and never in the terminal. The main issue is which airline you are flying and their load factors. American packs their planes, United and Delta leave open their middle seats for example. Regarding the safety of airplane travel, click on the links below. You may be surprised to learn that the dangers may not be what you think. Due to work commitments, we have taken three long-haul flights between October 6-December 15 with connectionss in either Miami or Dallas on each flight (Colombia, Brazil-also 3 internal flights-, and the DR). All safe and sound. Inside the terminal, it is easy to social distance and everyone is wearing masks.
The danger that we saw was not from the planes but from randomly being in close proximity to loud, unmasked people wherever we were. We almost exclusively saw that in Florida (Miami and Key West). Of course, that can happen on a plane, too, but we didn't see it. You don't see the flight attendants very much for that matter either. There is very little movement around the cabin these days. Some airlines now stagger deplaning to avoid the usual scrum and in order to control distancing. It works great.
This link is from MIT on the relative safety of airline travel:
https://medical.mit.edu/covid-19-updates/2020/09/how-safe-air-travel
This link is an interesting article from the NYT indicating that your choice of airline may be important ( load factors, which airlines leave open the middle seat etc):
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/travel/air-travel-safety-coronavirus.html
Dominican Republic: We only left the resort to travel by taxi/van/Uber to visit other resorts and were never out in the general public except for the airport and that related travel. We felt safe enough. Everyone in the airport (except for the taxi hawkers outside) were masked up as were all of our drivers.
All of the staff at all of the resorts are required to wear masks at all times although it is optional for guests in open environments (pool, beach etc). When entering enclosed areas (shops, restaurants, bars etc) masks were required for everyone. Social distancing as it relates to tables, sofas etc was evident and we did notice that most people automatically followed social distancing guidelines. Generally, people automatically wore their masks if they moved away from a restaurant table etc. and were respectful. We are rabid about masking, distancing, cleaning hands etc.
At Excellence El Carmen you are required to sanitize the soles of.your shoes, your hands, and have your temperature checked before entering. If you pass, you are rewarded with champagne as you check in.
This link is for DR specific info;
https://www.godominicanrepublic.com/newsroom/coronavirus/
As the Pfizer, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been rolled out and there will shortly be more to come, we anticipate that anyone who wants a vaccination will be able to access one by April. Both of us will get vaccinated although we will not be in one of the early groups as we are (relatively) young, strong, healthy, and awesome. Even if we are not vaccinated by April, we believe that we, along with our friends in similar situations, will be safe enough by abiding with, and continuing to follow, existing protocols. AS OF EARLY APRIL, 2021 BOTH OF US ARE NOW FULLY VACCINATED.
This is a link to a C/Net article which is particularly informative:
This is a link to a WaPo article about the Pfizer vaccine:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/17/covid-vaccines-what-you-need-to-know/?arc404=true
This is a link to an NYT article about the Moderna vaccine:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/health/covid-moderna-vaccine.html
This link is a side by side comparison of the two vaccines:
This is a link to a Lancet article about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32623-4/fulltext
This is a link to a VeryWell Health article about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine:
https://www.verywellhealth.com/astrazeneca-oxford-covid-19-vaccine-5093148
If you want to get an idea of what the worldwide pandemic situation is, click on the link below and you‘ll find actual information and you can compare it with other countries. What is true is that the USA is, unfortunately, the most dangerous place to be.
This link is for Covid worldwide comparisons and facts:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
