NRIs home, on wings
2 flights land, from UK and Singapore, bring back 813 Indians stranded abroad; late-night flight expected from Manila
813 Indians stranded abroad amid the global lockdown landed at the Mumbai international airport early on Sunday morning and afternoon, as part of the Vande Bharat mission. Two flights, one from London and another from Singapore, landed in the morning and in the afternoon, respectively, said a senior BMC official.
While 243 passengers arrived from Singapore, around 329 passengers returned from the UK and the remaining 241 from Manila, the Philippines.
Of these, 572 passengers from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been kept in mandatory institutional quarantine in hotels prepped near the airport, while those from outside were allowed to travel to their home districts where they will be kept in isolation in hotels acquired for the purpose by the authorities, the official said.
The civic body has arranged for 3,343 rooms in 88 hotels, including two/three/four/five-star, apartment and Oyo budget hotels to serve as temporary isolation facilities for these returnees, on payment basis.
"Around 572 passengers have already arrived. They were first screened and kept in isolation, as per the guidelines issued by the Ministr y of External Affairs (MEA). They will have to undergo a mandatory health check-up and remain quarantined at the accommodation provided by the civic body for the next 14 days. Those found to be symptomatic will later be sent to SevenHills Hospital in Andheri," said Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects) P Velrasu. "We are expecting 241 more passengers in a flight from Manila (the Philippines), which is expected to land in Mumbai late on Sunday," he said.
The official said majority of those who who arrived on the two flights on Sunday were from Mumbai, while some were from Pune, Dhule and Kolhapur, among others. The official added, "Mostly, we are not expecting anyone to be symptomatic on arrival, as those with symptoms would not have been allowed to board at the point of origin, to ensure the safety of other passengers.”