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The Latest from St. John

The Latest from St. John 1
View from Murphy House, March 22, 2020

Well folks, we made it to Monday. By now, you’ve probably read or been told that visitors are unable to check into any accommodation – hotel, villa, Airbnb, etc. – for a 30-day period beginning this Wednesday, March 25, 2020 per order of the Governor. This pertains to St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix. The Governor issued this order to keep our community healthy, and I hope everyone – visitors and business owners alike – abides by it.

(In case you missed it, click here to read our story on this.)

As of today, March 23, 2020, there are seventeen cases of COVID-19 in the US Virgin Islands. Nine are in St. Croix and 8 are in St. Thomas. As of today, there are no cases on St. John. There are two pending tests – one in St. Croix and one in St. Thomas.

Beginning today, all bars must close. Restaurants can remain open, but for take-out only. There is no in house-dining at this time. This applies to the entire Virgin Islands.

The majority of shops are closing today.

The airports and seaports remain open. The Governor said he will not ask that they be closed. (Only the federal government can close the airport. Only the Coast Guard can close the seaports.)

St. John is basically shutting down. And while this will be devastating to our economy, I believe it is the right thing to do in order to limit the spread of this virus.

So what can you do? If you have a trip that is occurring within the 30-day window when you are not allowed to arrive, I ask that you postpone, not cancel. If you have a trip scheduled for May, June or beyond, I ask that you wait before making a decision to postpone or cancel. Let’s see what occurs here in the next few weeks please.

If you love St, John, you can still support us during this time. Go online, and visit your favorite shop or restaurant. Chances are they have online shopping. Many offer gift certificates too. If you plan on coming back, buy a gift certificate from your favorite restaurant now and use it later. Small steps like this can really help our economy during this time.

Planning on taking a boat charter the next time you return? How about an island tour with me? Consider booking those trips now. Let us know you are coming back. 🙂

If you are looking to bring a little St. John into your homes during this time, consider purchasing a St. Johnopoly board game. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it’s just like the traditional Monopoly board game but for St. John. So rather than starting at Go, you will start at the Ferry Dock. You will go around the board using tokens like a Jeep and a petroglyph while landing on some of your favorite spots including Miss Lucy’s, The Beach Bar and more.

You can purchase your St. Johnopoly game at www.newsofstjohn.com/stjohnopoly 

Most importantly, please come back. So many of you did after the hurricanes, and I hope you choose to again. We will be here waiting for you… when the time is right of course!

Have a great day everyone, and hang in there. We’re all in this together.

18 thoughts on “The Latest from St. John”

  1. It’s a shame the cancellation policy that the Westin (Marriott) has in place for owners. They need to step it up and do the right thing. Stay positive St John.

    • Agreed. Vistana was very generous to owners after IrMaria, but Marriott is being horrible to owners everywhere. Someone at Marriott needs to step up and do the right thing.

    • Well Marriott has not done a thing to help the people who have to cancel because of the governor’s order. Don’t worry we all love St John and will come back no matter what. Everything’s gonna be alright. Stay healthy.

  2. Annual trip cut short, got off the island with ease yesterday and already planning our return trip. Hang in there St John, we love and support you!

  3. Thanks for the update. We appreciate all you do to keep us informed. We just bought the board game and look forward to playing it while “isolated” here in NC. We hope to get our Coral Bay home rebuilt before too long. All the best!

  4. Thank you for keeping us up-to-date. Such good news that there are no cases in STJ. We WILL be back to our home there in Cruz Bay in May, God willing. The beauty of the island and its wonderful people remain close in our hearts.

  5. You continue to be the voice of reason. Yes, we have rescheduled our annual trip. Yes, stay safe and healthy!
    Keep the info coming!!

  6. We postponed our trip. Unfortunately, it won’t be until the end of January. Stay safe. This too shall pass. Keep the post coming. Even if it is just pics of that beautiful blue water that calls to me.

  7. Thank you so much for all your updates. You are our eyes, ears, and reasoning when we cannot be present. We hope and pray all of you who reside on St. John remain safe and enjoy all the solitude in a sense of the tourists and part time residents. Each time I leave, I’m immediately planning our return to our home away from home. Take care, be safe, and God Bless you!

  8. thanks for the update on inland life 🙂 stay healthy and safe will come back…. cant stop me from returning once this is over maybe oct???

  9. Please keep the beautiful pictures coming, it definitely helps during this challenging time. We were suppose to visit at the end of April and are hoping to visit in November, God willing!

  10. Thank you for the update Jenn! Y’all stay safe and hang tight- we will all be back! So glad I got to be there in February.

  11. We were so lucky to get our trip in this year. We left 3/14. So happy to see it so green and thriving. Stay strong St. John, if you can get threw IrMaria you can get thru this. We will be back again. We are in this together. Thank you for the update and happy no cases reported on the island, let’s keep it that way. xoxo

  12. We rented a house for next week and have been told that our money won’t be refunded. We had paid in full. We are happy to reschedule, but have been told that we can only reschedule once, and that it must be this calendar year, which might not be possible. So disappointed.

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