414 sailors arriving today from Italy will be kept at airport

NT NETWORK

Panaji

Stating that the 414 stranded seafarers arriving at the Dabolim airport from Italy would in no way cause problems to the local population, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday said that none of these passengers would be allowed to move out of the Dabolim airport premises unless and until their COVID-19 test result is made available to the government.

“We have set up four sample collection kiosks for COVID-19 tests at the airport and every single passenger will have to undergo the test and wait at the airport until the result is out,” he informed, pointing out that the District Collectors have made all related preparations.

The 400-odd seafarers are set to arrive at the Dabolim airport on May 20 in three chartered flights, reaching at 8 am, 12 pm and 2 pm.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has already stated that it does not have any objection to carry out immigration functions for the 414 passengers, who will fly to Goa from Italy.

Speaking further, Rane said that the seafarers arriving from Italy, if found negative would be sent for 14-day quarantine, with a team from the health
department deputed to monitor them during this period. “If found positive, they would have to get admitted to the COVID-19 hospital at Margao,” he added.

Incidentally, the Airports Authority of India had expressed opinion that the chartered flights bringing these seafarers need to be spread out over two days, and should not be allowed to arrive on the same day due to the logistical problems such as sanitising the airport, time required for these passengers to wait at the airport until their swab test result is out and so on. 

The airport can accommodate a maximum of 200 seafarer passengers in the sitting area, where they will wait for their swab test result.

The three flights are being chartered by the Italian cruise line Costa Cruises. The government has made it mandatory for the arriving seafarers to be quarantined at a paid facility.

The Health Minister also said that no Goan should be concerned about the arrival of these seafarers from Italy, which is one of the global coronavirus hotspots, as there is no difference between a person arriving in Goa from either Mumbai or Italy. “In fact, Mumbai today has become more intense hotspot of the virus than Italy,” he noted.