 decided upon by the Karakam heads of government. The travel bubble was agreed upon at the heads of 12th Special Emergency Meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic. The bubble comes into effect Friday, 18th September 2020. Chairman of Karakam and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, in a statement says, the region has been hard hit given its dependence on the travel tourism sector. Honourable Gonsalves revealed that the decision to institute a travel bubble among countries of the Caribbean community was based on the need to resuscitate the travel tourism sector of member states and by extension the economy of the region. In agreeing to this, the heads of government were guided by a comprehensive report from the Caribbean public health agency CARFA, which provided recommendations on how the bubble would operate and laid out the eligibility criteria for countries to participate. These criteria included that countries would be categorized ranging from those with no cases to those which had low, medium, high and very high risk with respect to the rate of positive cases over a 14-day period. The level of risk would be determined by the number of positive cases per 100,000 of the population within a 14-day period. Only those countries with no cases and those in the low risk category would be allowed to participate in the bubble. Relevant data will be assessed by CARFA to advise on participation in the bubble. Travelers from countries within the bubble will be allowed entry in caracom states without being subjected to PCR testing prior to arrival and will not be quarantined. Travelers may, however, be subjected to screening on arrival. Initially, Antigone Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitson, Neves, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines will be included in the bubble as they presently meet the criteria. Other member states and associate members will be allowed to participate when they meet the criteria. The full requirements and protocols would be made available to the public and would be accessed both locally and regionally through the different media platforms. Heads of government look forward to more caracom countries joining the travel bubble as the region learns to live with this pandemic safely without destroying lives or livelihoods. That was Chairman of Caracom and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.