Quarrel over quarantine as first direct Vande Bharat flight arrives in Goa

Panaji: The arrival of stranded expats on the first direct Vande Bharat flight to Goa was marred by chaos and lack of coordination between the authorities, resulting in passengers reaching their quarantine centres almost 12 hours after they landed.
The Air India flight which landed at 12.28 am on Tuesday, brought back 110 expats from Dubai, UAE. Their journey was smooth until they arrived in Goa, passengers said.
Arguments broke out between passengers and the authorities outside the terminal building with some passengers refusing to comply with the SOP stipulated by the Union ministry of home affairs, which mandates a seven-day paid quarantine. They demanded home quarantine instead.
Several pregnant women also pointed out to the exemption for pregnant women from the seven-day institutional quarantine but their pleas fell on deaf years.
“Why should we spend money and stay in a quarantine facility? There are pregnant women here who need food every hour, senior citizens who need their medicines. Will chief minister Pramod Sawant take responsibility if something happens to them in the hotels?” one of the protesting passengers said.
Sayad Imran, one of the Goan expats on the flight, said, “The government of India made it clear that pregnant women, senior citizens and those with medical problems be quarantined at home.”
When the authorities failed to diffuse the situation, Goa police and CISF officers intervened and convinced the protesting passengers to move to a paid quarantine facility.
Passengers complained of a lack of clarity on protocol as they were first informed that they had to take a blood test for Covid-19. When they questioned this and stated that they had already done a blood test before boarding in Dubai, the authorities clarified that only their swab samples would be drawn and tested for Rs 2,000.
They were subsequently made to wait in buses for police escorts to be taken to their quarantine centre and paid Rs 500 each for transportation.