MUMBAI: About six hundred passengers landed in Mumbai from London on three flights in the early hours of Tuesday, but only about two hundred and thirty of them were allowed to return home from the airport. Those who were allowed to go home were residents of other states. Those who stayed in Maharashtra, more than 300 passengers, were sent to a hotel for a week-long quarantine as ordered by the state government late Monday.
This is not the first time this year that international passengers have been caught off guard by the sudden decisions made by governments to control the spread of the new coronavirus. But it is perhaps the first time that a plane full of passengers was divided based on their residential addresses.
London resident Kapil Patil was one of the people whose family was affected by the sudden imposition of institutional quarantine on UK passengers. His wife was traveling with their four-month-old son. The duo were stuck at the airport for more than eight hours after the flight landed. Since she stayed in Kalyan and not outside of Maharashtra, she was placed in hotel quarantine for seven days. Desperate, Patil tweeted for help, seeking a relaxation of the rules by allowing her home to be quarantined. “My son is crying too much,” he tweeted.
An airport source said the sudden requirement to segregate passengers based on their domicile led to long lines of passengers from London. On Tuesday, the BMC issued new guidelines according to which passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East must undergo a seven-day mandatory institutional quarantine at designated hotels.
“They will be tested between the fifth and seventh day, and if the RT-PCR test report is negative, they will be allowed to go home. However, they will be advised to undergo seven days of home quarantine, ”said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner (health).
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Anil Wankhede said that passengers who land in Mumbai but are residents of states other than Maharashtra, who have continuation flights, will be able to take their connecting flights as long as they carry a recent negative RT-PCR test report. “Hotel rates range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,500 per night per room, and this price includes three meals and a snack. People can choose the hotels based on their affordability. We have reserved enough rooms. We have 2,000 passenger arrivals from Europe and the Middle East every day, ”Wankhede said.
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