COVID-19 in the Caribbean Netherlands

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius just as it has impacted the rest of the world. On 31 March 2020, St Eustatius registered its first case of COVID-19; Saba and Bonaire followed soon after. Over the year 2020, Bonaire recorded 3 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. In 2021, up until end of September, Bonaire had 19 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. No confirmed COVID-19 deaths have been recorded on Saba and St Eustatius. The impact of COVID-19 was felt in all aspects of life in the Caribbean Netherlands. Although a cause-effect relationship cannot always be proved, there have been notable developments for example in the development of the island populations, numbers of visitors and (consumer) prices.

A brief overview of what COVID-19 has meant for the islands is given in this section, while the details are found throughout this publication.

After COVID-19 made its entrance on the islands, containment measures were introduced. These measures were necessary due to the islands’ vulnerable position (limited healthcare facilities, no ICU capacity) and have affected tourism, the economy and society in general.

The first precautionary measures were taken on 14 March 2020, when Bonaire International Airport was closed for international flights. A few weeks later, on 15 April, regional flights to and from Curaçao and Aruba were also banned. Moreover, cruise ships were banned. On St Eustatius and Saba, the harbour and airport were closed for all flights from high-risk areas such as Europe and the United States as of 16 March 2020.

The consequences of these measures were obviously reflected in the number of aircraft movements to and from the Caribbean Netherlands. A decline of 87.7 percent was recorded in April 2020 compared to April 2019. The number of air passengers declined by 99.1 percent in the same period.

The exclusion of passengers flying in from high-risk countries has undoubtedly had a negative effect on the number of visitors arriving by air to the Caribbean Netherlands. For Bonaire, this meant a fall of 58 percent in 2020 relative to 2019, for Saba 67 percent and for St Eustatius 69 percent. From mid-March 2020 until August 2021, no cruise ships visited Bonaire. In the same period in 2019, Bonaire welcomed 173.9 thousand cruise passengers.

Besides restrictions for travel, as a result of further spreading of the virus, Bonaire had two lockdowns: one from 21–30 September 2020 and one from 18 March to 1 April 2021. During the latter, a curfew was put in place. Saba had a lockdown from 12 April to 9 May 2020. On St Eustatius, accommodation and food service establishments had to close their doors from 3 April to 15 May 2020, with the exception of take-out establishments. This was also the case for parts of September and October 2020.

In order to minimise the financial impact on residents due to COVID-19, the government put relief measures in place: allowances for electricity and internet were provided by the government as of 1 May 2020. Residents no longer had to pay a fixed usage tariff for electricity and fixed internet subscribers received a monthly discount of 25 US dollars.

An additional subsidy on internet subscriptions was provided in January 2021 to the amount of 20 US dollars on St Eustatius and 10 US dollars on Saba.

Besides the above mentioned relief measures for consumers, the government introduced a package of emergency measures especially for companies. This emergency package consisted of financial support for wage costs and/or fixed overhead: for employees, 80 percent of the last earned salary (if certain conditions were met), for business owners this meant compensation of 85 percent of the fixed overhead, in the event of a turnover loss of more than 30 percent. These measures helped tackle the economic consequences of COVID-19.

COVID-19 also affected the education sector in Caribbean Netherlands. On Bonaire, all schools (primary and secondary) and daycare facilities closed their doors from 19 March through 11 May 2020. A second closure took place from 18 March through 12 April 2021. The Saba University School of Medicine closed its doors on 16 March 2020 and switched to online lectures. As of May 2020, the school provided its education with both online and (to a much lesser extent) physical attendance. All schools on St Eustatius were closed for a period of six weeks, from 30 March until 11 May 11 2020. The schools later closed their doors again in September 2020 and reopened after the October school break. However, online learning was implemented.

COVID-19 also impacted the data collection for statistical purposes. For example, the compilation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Caribbean Netherlands was affected because, at times, there was no or limited possibility to collect prices of certain products and services. In some cases it was even impossible to observe prices. The latter was the case for Saba in April 2020, during the shelter in place, and for Bonaire during the lockdowns in September 2020 and in March 2021.

The Labour Force Survey Caribbean Netherlands (LFS-CN), from which the figures on the number of employed are taken, is usually held every two years, between October and December. Due to the COVID-19 measures, the survey could not be conducted earlier than between December 2020 and March 2021. The survey, which is usually held face-to-face, was also conducted via telephone on Bonaire in order to minimise contact between interviewers and interviewees.

After more than a year, everything slowly seemed to go back to normal in the Caribbean Netherlands. The first aircraft arriving from the US landed on Bonaire on 5 June 2021, more than one year after the start of the pandemic. As of 1 May 2021, Saba welcomed visitors again from low-risk countries and St Eustatius did so as of 14 June 2021. The first cruise ship was allowed on the shores of Bonaire on 2 September 2021.

Note: The described COVID-19 timeline has been updated until 30 September 2021.

Any possible measures or changes after this date have not been taken into account.