Updated: 10:02 AM CDT Apr 26, 2021
WVTM 13 Digital
A woman from Birmingham, Alabama was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week after she allegedly submitted an altered negative COVID-19 test result the online travel portal. Franketa Taylor, 41, is facing charges of fraudulent claims upon the government, access to a computer for fraudulent purposes, use of false information, and filing or recording forged instruments. According to the Virgin Islands Police Department, Taylor was booked into jail on a $5,500 bond and later turned over to the Bureau of Corrections pending her advice-of-rights hearing.Taylor is the seventh person to be charged with entering an altered or forged COVID-19 test in the travel portal, which is intended to screen incoming travelers for illness to prevent the spread of the virus, according to The Virgin Islands Daily News. Users of the online travel portal must acknowledge a statement that they could face prosecution if they knowingly submit false information to the government.Every traveler aged five or older who enters the U.S. Virgin Islands by air or sea, including anyone in-transit to another destination, is required to use the USVI Travel Screening Portal AND to submit a COVID-19 test result prior to travel. Travelers to the Virgin Islands are required to provide evidence of:- a COVID-19 molecular (e.g., RT-PCR, viral or nucleic acid amplification) test from a nasal or throat or saliva swab sample taken and NEGATIVE result received (both within five days of commencement of travel to the Territory)OR- a COVID-19 antigen (rapid) test from a nasal or throat swab sample taken and NEGATIVE result received (both within five days of commencement of travel to the Territory)OR- a COVID-19 antibody (rapid) finger stick or blood draw test taken and POSITIVE result received (both within four months of commencement of travel to the Territory)