(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago nationals who returned home after being stranded on a cruise ship with passengers who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, have been taken from the Piarco International Airport to a quarantine location in Toco.
Surrounded by medics in full personal protection equipment, the passengers were loaded into Defence Force buses, and moved in a security convoy from the tarmac to a fenced and secured facility that is capable of housing 150 people.
The unprecedented action was taken in an effort to prevent the passengers who returning to their home to self isolate.
The Ministry of Health said 68 were instead placed under immediate quarantine.
In a statement, the Ministry said the nationals have been quarantined due to the presence of other persons on the cruise ship who tested positive for COVID-19. None of these Trinidad and Tobago nationals have tested positive for COVID-19 at this time.
All passengers from the cruise ship were transported to the Piarco International Airport on a specific flight with no other public passengers. They were immediately screened by public health officials and transported to the assigned quarantine facility, with the assistance of the Protective Services and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. All sixty-eight nationals will be held in quarantine, for a minimum of 14, and monitored closely by medical professionals.
The nationals are being quarantined at an isolated location, in a remote part of Trinidad and Tobago, and will be provided with the required amenities during this period.
