Young: 850 nationals on their way home

Approximately 850 nationals will be returning to TT and enter quarantine facilities for 14 days. They are expected to arrive between today and next Friday.

At a covid19 briefing hosted by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, National Security Minister Stuart Young said nine people working in Guyana have already returned

Next week the government will receive about 352 nationals working on three cruise ships.

The government is also preparing to receive seven nationals who are aboard a Disney cruise ship which is expected to arrive on Tuesday next week. A Norwegian cruise ship will be coming with 19 nationals plus one permanent resident on Monday, and on Friday between 326 to 360 nationals will be arriving on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

"We have negotiated that a specific dedicated vessel will be used to quarantine all of these nationals,” Young said.

“When they come in, we have made arrangements for our health personnel to test every single one of the nationals. They will be all quarantined on the ship in separate rooms with their washroom facilities.”

He said 85 UWI students from Barbados and another 65 from Mona, Jamaica are expected to return on Friday and Monday, respectively. "There are some students who are on ships outside doing maritime degrees with the University of TT, and as part of that they have a practical side where they must go on certain cargo ships and be out at sea for several months. We have been letting those students, as the ships return, disembark and go into state quarantine. There is a small number there.

"Nationals who are retuning via yachts, we will have to quarantine them under the TT Coast Guard. When they have finished their period and they have been tested, they will be allowed to disembark."

Young said the government has negotiated with a company in St Kitts and Nevis to return five nationals and the company has arranged to pay for them to go into quarantine at a hotel.

Another 29 in Venezuela are scheduled to return on Friday, and 49 working in the Gulf of Mexico are scheduled to return soon. Young said 26 deportees have also been granted exemptions to return.