MIAMI – Federal authorities are warning travelers to avoid going to The Bahamas due to coronavirus pandemic-related conditions. The U.S. Department of State’s “reconsider travel” advisory on Monday follows the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s warning on Saturday asking Americans to “avoid all travel” to the Bahamas. Bahamian authorities are requiring tourists to have a travel health visa. Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that 7,460 cases of COVID-19 had been reported on Tuesday. That number is, in fact, the total number of cases that have been confirmed in the Bahamas to date.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – As the Bahamas continue to recover one year after Hurricane Dorian slammed the Abaco Islands, they are being met with another challenge. When COVID-19 forced the Bahamas to shut down, it slowed down the rebuilding efforts, but also left many without jobs. Just as businesses reopened, they were shut down as the Bahamas issued some of the strictest lockdown measures. The Bahamas currently has just over 2000 active COVID-19 cases and a recent surge forced even tougher lockdown measures to contain the spread. She’s been focused on economic relief and helping businesses to reopen, which now with the novel coronavirus, forced all businesses to restructure.

Residents cover a window with plywood in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Isaias, in the Heritage neighborhood of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Friday, July 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Tim Aylen)SAN JUAN Hurricane Isaias snapped trees and knocked out power as it blew through the Bahamas on Saturday and headed toward the Florida coast, where officials said they were closing beaches, parks and coronavirus testing sites. Authorities in North Carolina ordered the evacuation of Ocracoke Island, which was slammed by last years Hurricane Dorian, starting Saturday evening. Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (135 kph) Saturday morning and some strengthening was possible, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. On Thursday, while still a tropical storm, Isaias toppled trees, knocked out power, destroyed crops and caused widespread flooding and small landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas - Nearly a month after Hurricane Dorian ravaged the northern Bahamas, Local 10's Calvin Hughes visited the islands to see not much as changed since the storm struck. Now, almost a month after Dorian, Bahamians are left to assess the loss and devise a plan to recovery. The Bahamas Red Cross has also been providing mental health support for evacuees and trauma victims. On Abaco, residents are still dependent on goods brought in by the military and aid groups. In hard-hit Abaco, Dorian deposited cars and boats onto people's yards.

FREEPORT, Bahamas - Grand Bahamas resident Tanya Fox ignored evacuation warnings three years ago when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the Bahamas with its Category 4 fury and survived in a nearby hotel. Dorian left a calamitous trail of destruction in the Bahamas; at ground zero lay the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama. The Bahamian government said this week Abaco and Grand Bahama, alone, had lost $60 million in crops and marine resources. Now, almost a month after Dorian, Bahamians are left to assess the loss and devise a plan to recovery. Residents have taken to burning debris in some areas, as they pick up the mess Dorian left behind.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. - At least two large fires are burning in Grand Bahama, and their smoke can be smelled all the way in South Florida. Satellite images clearly show two large hot spots in an area of Grand Bahama where smoke plumes have been seen. Local 10 News' Brandon Orr believes these fires are debris burns in rural areas of the island. At night, when temperatures cool down, the smoke in the air is pushed down toward the ground. Wind from the northeast is forecast over the next several days, which means the smell could stick around as long as the fires are burning.

At least two large fires are burning in Grand Bahama, and their smoke can be smelled all the way in South Florida. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

Water, water everywhere. Public schools in undamaged areas, such as Nassau, re-opened Sept. 9, and some private schools across the islands reopened last week for the start of their school year. At least five private schools were among the first on Grand Bahama to reopen after the storm. On South Abaco, which escaped the worst of the hurricane, Moore's Island Public School and Crossing Rocks Primary School reopened. Henfield, the first-grade teacher, has no answer for frustrated parents who want to know when public schools on the island might reopen their doors.

As the flood waters were rising in their Grand Bahama home, the family punctured holes in the drywall to keep their heads above water. "We said goodbye to her a few times and told her we loved her," Johnson, 51, told the South Florida SunSentinel. After the harrowing ordeal and the touch and go rescue, Johnson and Mosvold traveled to South Florida. Johnson said she and her husband George Johnson are staying with friends in South Florida. They lost their home and their Ol'Freetown Farm in Grand Bahama.

"We got a call last week to support this animal shelter," said Leonard Goldberg, the president of Gold Aviation Services. Briland Animal Rescue needs help to deal with Hurricane Dorian's aftermath in the Bahamas. Goldberg said Briland Animal Rescue needs help to continue their mission. The animal shelter needs crates, carriers, leashes, collars, bowls, dog/cat food, poop bags, first-aid kits, any type of pet medications, pee pads, cat litter, beds, blankets, towels and sheets. For more information about how to contribute to the mission, visit the organization's site or make a donation on Briland Animal Rescue's PayPal account.

Another man sat in his wheelchair for nearly 48 hours in water up to his chest, alone in his home. Stories of survival are trickling out across northern Bahamas as the initial shock wears off from Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history. Some 1,300 still missing in the hard-hit islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco, although the government has said many could be in shelters and with loved ones. "I think some persons can't believe that it happened, and others are still processing it," said Pastor Robert Lockhart of Calvary Temple in Grand Bahama. Eulese Cooper, a 46-year-old fisherwoman from Grand Bahama, was one of those processing her loss as she sifted aimlessly through her family's belongings in the fishing village of McLean's Town.

The UK Ministry of Defence has released aerial images of the damage from Dorian on Great Abaco, in the Bahamas. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - Pollo Tropical joined forces with Chef Jos Andres. The Doral-based company announced a pledge to contribute to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas with the help of customers. For every Pollo Tropical Original Family Meal purchased at any of the 140 company-owned restaurants, the company will be donating a dollar to the chef's World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization providing food to Dorian survivors. On Saturday, Tropical Storm Humberto suspended the United Nations World Food Program's distribution of meals in Grand Bahama.

The UK Ministry of Defence has released aerial images of the damage from Dorian on Great Abaco, in the Bahamas. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - Pollo Tropical joined forces with Chef Jos Andres. The Doral-based company announced a pledge to contribute to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas with the help of customers. For every Pollo Tropical Original Family Meal purchased at any of the 140 company-owned restaurants, the company will be donating a dollar to the chef's World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization providing food to survivors. On Saturday, Tropical Storm Humberto suspended the United Nations World Food Program's distribution of meals in Grand Bahama.

Members of the fire rescue team Task Force 8, from Gainesville, Florida, help remove a body one week after Hurricane Dorian hit The Mudd neighborhood in the Marsh Harbor area of Abaco Island, Bahamas, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. As the northwestern Bahamas struggles to recover from Dorian, residents braced for newly formed Tropical Storm Humberto, which was expected to hit two islands over the weekend that were already battered by Dorian. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm was passing just east of Great Abaco island early Saturday and would bring heavy rains to the northwestern Bahamas. On Grand Bahama it was 11% and had increased to 9% on nearby Abaco before Dorian slammed both islands, with people now trying to find any type of work after thousands lost their jobs. Before the storm hit, the Bahamas had 32,000 people who were self-employed.

CNN Video(CNN) - A tropical depression is poised to hit the same northern Bahamian islands that Hurricane Dorian ravaged earlier this month -- and it may be a tropical storm when it does. The storm strengthened into a tropical depression Friday afternoon, and likely will grow in strength into a tropical storm named Humberto, with maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph, over the next day, forecasters say. The center of Tropical Depression Nine was about 140 miles east-southeast of Great Abaco at 5 p.m. Tropical storm warnings have been issued for areas of the northern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch has been issued for portions of the east coast of Florida, affecting about 3 million people, according to forecasters.

via CNNNASSAU, Bahamas - An estimated 2,500 people are listed as missing in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian crashed ashore nearly two weeks ago, the government said. The list is preliminary and all the names have not been confirmed against government records and evacuees, said Carl Smith of the Bahamas' National Emergency Management Agency. He urged people to continue submitting missing persons through the hotline or visiting the social services office, which is handling the missing people register. Hurricane Dorian tore though the islands as a Category 5 -- the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the Bahamas. Dorian's official death toll in the Bahamas now stands at 50, police said, though the grim number is expected to rise.

The UK Ministry of Defence has released aerial images of the damage from Dorian on Great Abaco, in the Bahamas. FREEPORT, Bahamas - Nearly 5,000 residents have fled the Bahamas after a violent Category 5 storm ripped through their neighborhoods and left the islands in shambles. "I want to assure evacuees that as we start rebuilding their communities they will be returned home," Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Monday. What the ferry operator should have doneStephen Silvestri, acting port director for the CBP at Port Everglades, said that the evacuees were ordered off the boat by the ferry operator and not by any US government entity. Death toll expected to riseBy Monday, the death toll had risen to 50, the Royal Bahamas Commissioner of Police said.

THE BAHAMAS - Less than a week after Hurricane Dorian ripped through the northern Bahamas, leaving thousands without shelter or much-needed supplies, the government wants the world to know the island chain is still open for business. As tourism is the most important driver of the Bahamian economy, government officials are letting tourists know they are welcome with "open arms." Officials added that the best thing people can do for local residents and the country itself is visit the Bahamas. Our beautiful island nation is ready to welcome you." Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

Aid is arriving slowly on the island of Grand Bahama, where Dorian parked for almost two days and caused damage one usually witnesses in a war zone. On August 30, CNN sent the three of us to Freeport, on Grand Bahama, to cover the storm. We had to scramble to catch American Airlines flight 3489 from Miami, which turned out to be the last from the US to Grand Bahama before Dorian hit. Late the next night, Dorian began pummeling the Abacos and Grand Bahama as an insanely powerful Category 5 Hurricane. "Grand Bahama right now is dead," Smith said, trauma carved into his face.

The damage from Hurricane Dorian to Grand Bahama is gradually becoming apparent. Aid is arriving slowly on the island of Grand Bahama, where Dorian parked for almost two days and caused damage one usually witnesses in a war zone. We had to scramble to catch American Airlines flight 3489 from Miami, which turned out to be the last from the US to Grand Bahama before Dorian hit. Late the next night, Dorian began pummeling the Abacos and Grand Bahama as an insanely powerful Category 5 Hurricane. "Grand Bahama right now is dead," Smith said, trauma carved into his face.

DANIA BEACH, Fla. - The list of needed supplies in the Bahamas features more than just the basics. A South Florida organization is answering that call by sending a yacht full of medical supplies and volunteers to the island chain. The yacht will have more than 40 volunteers on board, all medical personnel. Important supplies on board include tents, cots, tarps and various medical supplies. The yacht is scheduled to return to South Florida twice a week to stock up on specifically requested supplies before heading back.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Relief efforts continue across the Bahamas as the death toll from Hurricane Dorian sits at 43. Unfortunately, the amount of damage and debris is making it very difficult for rescue and aid workers to get to those in need. This comes more than a week after Dorian pounded parts of the Bahamas with catastrophic wind and punishing rain. As cleanup efforts continue, it will become easier to access some of the area most damaged by the storm. Crowds of evacuees from Abaco have been waiting their turn to board small relief planes, with some hoping for a sense of normalcy following the devastation left behind by Dorian.

Bahamians were evacuated to South Florida during Hurricane Dorian on the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line ship Grand Celebration, but they won't be staying here for an extended period of time. "Our hats are off to the cruise line. "Why there' s so much complete devastation is the storm surge." Residents tell stories of seeing people being swept out to sea by the powerful storm surge. This was just the first of several relief missions Paradise Cruise Line intends to carry out.

The death toll rose to 43 and officials say that number will go up drastically as hundreds of residents remain missing, buried under the rubble. "It was like an atomic bomb went off," said Sherrie Roberts, who survived the hurricane on Abaco Islands. Search and rescue personnel who arrived on the Abaco Islands brought body bags and coolers. 'Unimaginable' death toll and human sufferingIn the neighborhoods of the wrecked islands, reminders of the disaster were everywhere. The public should prepare for "unimaginable information about the death toll and the human suffering," Health Minister Duane Sands told Guardian Radio 96.9 FM.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian obliterated neighborhoods in Great Abaco and the Grand Bahama islands in northwest Bahamas. An aerial view of damaged houses on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Marsh Harbor residents wait at Leonard M. Thompson International Airport while trying to evacuate the island on Thursday, Sept. 59 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Aerial view of Marsh Harbor after Hurricane Dorian passed through on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Two women look for lost items after Hurricane Dorian passed through in The Mudd area of Marsh Harbour on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian obliterated neighborhoods in Great Abaco and the Grand Bahama islands in northwest Bahamas. An aerial view of damaged houses on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Marsh Harbor residents wait at Leonard M. Thompson International Airport while trying to evacuate the island on Thursday, Sept. 59 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Aerial view of Marsh Harbor after Hurricane Dorian passed through on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Two women look for lost items after Hurricane Dorian passed through in The Mudd area of Marsh Harbour on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas.

Aerial view of Marsh Harbor after Hurricane Dorian passed through on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Hurricane Dorian hit the island chain as a category 5 storm battering them for two days before moving north. (Photo byNASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian obliterated neighborhoods in Great Abaco and the Grand Bahama islands in northwest Bahamas. An aerial view of damaged houses on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Two women look for lost items after Hurricane Dorian passed through in The Mudd area of Marsh Harbour on September 5, 2019 in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas.

Volunteers receive relief supplies at the New Providence Community Center bound for devastated Abaco Island and Grand Bahamas survivors on Sept. 4, 2019, in Nassau, the Bahamas. (CNN) - Days after Hurricane Dorian inflicted "generational devastation" on islands in the Bahamas, foreign aid has arrived to support rescue efforts, feed the displaced and assess the damage that's being described in apocalyptic terms. The only international airport on the island of Grand Bahama was devastated and cannot serve as a staging ground for medical evacuations or emergency aid deliveries. Volunteers wade through the floodBefore foreign aid could reach the islands, local volunteers were on the scene and braving the harsh conditions to save others. Hotels on the Abaco and Grand Bahama islands are closed, the tourism ministry said.

Many in Abaco and Grand Bahama are in need of medical attention and efforts are ongoing to get them the help they need. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

CNN VideoFREEPORT, Bahamas - Bahamas Health Minister Duane Sands told The Associated Press that Hurricane Dorian devastated the health infrastructure on Grand Bahama island and massive flooding has rendered the main hospital unusable. Sands said the main hospital in Marsh Harbour is intact and sheltering 400 people, but it needs food, water, medicine and surgical supplies. The storm then hovered over Grand Bahama for a day and a half. United Nations officials, meanwhile, estimate more than 60,000 people in the northwest Bahamas will need food following the devastation left by the storm. Herve Verhoosel said preliminary calculations show that 45,700 people on Grand Bahama island may need food, along with another 14,500 people in the neighboring Abaco Islands.

(CNN) - Hurricane Dorian's movement has slowed to 1 mph, less than the speed at which most of us walk. The slowdown means the island of Grand Bahama could be in Dorian's eye for more than nine hours. But the landfall wasn't what slowed down Dorian -- it has to do with what is steering the storm. A high-pressure system over the western Atlantic is blocking it from moving northward, and a weakness in the high-pressure system is slowing it down. At some point over the next 24 hours, the system will weaken enough that the hurricane will move northwest.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Powerful Hurricane Dorian slowly crept through the Bahamas Sunday and Monday, leaving behind devastating damage and flooding. Dorian's eye moved across Great Abaco Sunday, but due to the storm's extremely slow movement it was still passing over Grand Bahama more than 24 hours later. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis spoke at the National Emergency Management Agency late Monday afternoon and described some of what he had been seeing. "Critically injured individuals are being taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital here on New Providence." "Through various channels we are continuing to monitor events in Abaco and Grand Bahama as well as Bimini and the Barrier Islands," said Minnis.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - As powerful Hurricane Dorian pummels the Bahamas, the commonwealth's consul general in Miami said Monday that the island chain has been devastated by the fierce storm. "The devastation has been massive," Linda Mackey told Local 10 News reporter Trent Kelly at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where she was coordinating relief efforts for the Bahamas. Dorian made landfall Sunday in the northwestern Bahamas as a massive Category 5 hurricane, packing top winds of 185 mph. The National Association of the Bahamas has already established an online fund to donate money for its hurricane relief efforts. There is also a grassroots effort from South Florida residents and organizations who have begun collecting relief supplies and donations.

Minister of Agriculture and Marco City MP Michael Pintard, who lives on Grand Bahama, shows frightening footage of his home during the passage of Hurricane Dorian.

FREEPORT, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian has left a path of destruction throughout the Bahamas. Videos of the devastation throughout the islands have been pouring in to Local 10 News as Dorian overwhelms several islands. In Grand Bahama, water was lapping the windows and flooding homes well above sea level. In Freeport, waves of water inundated a home's lower floor, carrying floating furniture and debris with them. "Aluminum shutters were at this hotel and they blew off the windows," Fernandez said.

McLEAN'S TOWN CAY, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas as a catastrophic Category 5 storm Sunday, its record 185 mph winds ripping off roofs, overturning cars and tearing down power lines as hundreds hunkered down in schools, churches and shelters. There were indications that the slow-moving Dorian would veer sharply northeastward after passing the Bahamas and track up the U.S. Southeast seaboard. But Jack Pittard, a 76-year-old American who has visited the Bahamas for 40 years, decided to ride out the storm -- his first hurricane -- in Abaco. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for Florida's East Coast from Deerfield Beach north to the Volusia and Brevard county line. Complicating matters is that with every new forecast, "we keep nudging (Dorian's track) a little bit to the left" which is closer to the Florida coast, Graham said.

McLEAN'S TOWN CAY, Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas as a catastrophic Category 5 storm Sunday, its record 185 mph winds ripping off roofs, overturning cars and tearing down power lines as hundreds hunkered down in schools, churches and shelters. The only recorded storm that was more powerful was Hurricane Allen in 1980, with 190 mph (305 kph) winds. But Jack Pittard, a 76-year-old American who has visited the Bahamas for 40 years, decided to ride out the storm his first hurricane in Abaco. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for Florida's East Coast from Deerfield Beach north to the Volusia and Brevard county line. Complicating matters is that with every new forecast, "we keep nudging (Dorian's track) a little bit to the left" which is closer to the Florida coast, Graham said.