Dr Abigail Sophia Cooblal
By Prior Beharry
AFTER a harrowing experience to get home from Frankfurt in Germany, Dr Abigail Sophia Cooblal is happy to be quarantined in Tobago.
The acting Registrar in the Department of Surgery at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope was among 25 people who travelled from London on Wednesday via Virgin Atlantic.
She had gone to Frankfurt on a work-related trip and was contacted by Condor airline via email stating that her return flight had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was three days before it was to depart.
Cooblal was scheduled to leave on Tuesday (March 17) and now had to call the airline as per the instructions of the email.
Thankfully, the owner of the place she was staying was accommodating enough to give her a phone to make the call since it took her 45 minutes to get onto an English-speaking customer representative. Cooblal had got her place through the Airbnb app.
The representative said the flight was still on but the suspension was only for tourists. She protested that she was a returning national to TT, but it was to no avail.
She then went to Frankfurt airport early on Tuesday morning and was told by the person at the Condor desk that she had to call the airline directly.
Cooblal asked for a payphone and was told that there were none inside the airport terminal.
She used Wifi and called the lady she was staying with and was allowed to come and once again use the phone.
It was of no use and Cooblal looked up on the internet and found a number for the Trinidad and Tobago consulate in Munich but it did not work. She then sent an email to the TT consulate in London and still has not received a response.
Cooblal now had to contact her family in Trinidad since her credit card funds were running low and it was reaching the international limit that was recently imposed.
Her family booked her a flight aboard BA to London as Germany was one of the countries that TT had put on a travel-ban due to the Covid-19 outbreak. She got the last flight out of Germany and the last seat on the plane.
She arrived in Heathrow Airport at 7.30 pm London time Tuesday, knowing that at midnight, TT was banning all foreigners from entering its borders. Fortunately, it did not apply to TT nationals.
Cooblal now had to purchase a transfer bus ticket to Gatwick Airport and arrived at 9 pm. There was still no confirmation of the flight the next morning, but Cooblal family still bought her ticket and she now had to get a room for the night.
She and 24 other passengers boarded the Virgin Atlantic flight at 9 am on Wednesday. The plane was at ten percent capacity and when it landed in St Lucia, 14 passengers disembarked.
Eleven of them arrived in Tobago on Wednesday and lo and behold, she was told that the same Condor flight that she was originally booked on did make it to Tobago but only with its crew who were not allowed to disembark. She said the flight was going to pick up passengers in other islands and continue to Barbados as was its normal route.
She felt that her rights were infringed during a pandemic.
Cooblal said, “Getting home should have been considered a privilege. I was fortunate enough to have a capable family who worked hard to get me home.
“We paid more than €1,000 to do this. This cannot be said for everyone and it is frightening to think that there may be nationals being treated this way by airlines and may be stranded elsewhere.”
Cooblal said all protocols were followed when she landed in Tobago under the close supervision and care of acting County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Dr Tiffany Hoyte. All the passengers were given masks and had their temperature checked.
She said they were whisked away in a bus under police escort to a facility where she’s now in quarantine.
Cooblal said life in quarantine was not bad.
She said, “They are providing us with meals three times a day and we have an endless supply of water.
“We are confined to our rooms and given specific times to walk around the premises and do laundry.”
Cooblal said she was allowed minimal contact with other people but would maintain the proper social distancing.
She said she was feeling healthy and in good spirits. “I was trying to get home for the last 48 hours, so it’s a relief to be back on local soil.”
Cooblal said she was abiding by the rules and heard that they may be transferred to Trinidad but knows that she will remain in quarantine for 14 days.
A nurse checks on her twice a day.
She is not angry but knows that because of her interrupted travel plans she was exposed to two high-risk countries and three airports where she could have contracted the Covid-19.
Cooblal said, “I was conscious and did what I had to do – washed hands, I had hand sanitizers, wipes and I wiped surfaces.”
She said lot of people were wearing masks, but as a doctor she knows that they don’t stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Cooblal noted that it was difficult to adhere to social distancing in immigration and hoped that people pay attention to guidelines to prevent the spread of the Covid-19.
She said, “I want to implore the citizens of TT to continue to be vigilant and adhere to the protocols mandated by our Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation.
“It is going to be difficult as we are not accustomed to social isolation. We have to as a community look at the bigger picture and be more mindful and much more disciplined. Our government is doing their best. This situation is new to everyone. We must do our part.”
