THIRTY- FIVE elderly nationals of Trinidad and Tobago will land in Barbados from London on Monday afternoon and will not be allowed to return home because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Of the 35, there are 30 who are over 60 years. They left for a tour on February 25 and landed in Dubai and were supposed to return on March 27.
But National Security Minister Stuart Young announced on Saturday that all TT borders will be closed from midnight Sunday (March 22) and no planes will be allowed to land as part of the fight against the Covid-19 threat.
Their local travel agent said when they arrived in Dubai, they spent three nights there and then started a cruise to South Africa.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, they were only allowed to stop off in three ports including Oman on March 5. Then for the next 17 days they were on the ship and docked in Cape Town on Friday and were allowed to disembark on Sunday (March 22).
They are now travelling from Cape Town to Dubai and then onto London from where they will leave and reach Barbados at 4.05 pm on Monday.
The travel agent is asking for permission from the National Security Minister Stuart Young to have the 35 be allowed to land at Piarco International Airport.
But when contacted, Young said TT borders will be closed as part of the fight against the Covid-19 threat.
He said, “Our borders are closed from midnight tonight (Sunday). The reason for this is to stop the importation and spread of Covid-19 in Trinidad and Tobago.
“It is a fact that the most risky places for the contamination and spread of Covid-19 have been international airports, cruises and resorts as advised by the medical experts.
“We had warned that travel should be limited to essential and emergency travel only. Unfortunately, we have to close our borders to stop the possible spread of the virus.”
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