41 stranded passengers return from Guyana

41 passengers who were stranded in neighboring Guyana were put on the ferry and taken home on Thursday. Three of them do not have the Surinamese nationality. 109 Guyanese who were stranded in Suriname were also taken back to Guyana on Thursday. Hanisha Jairam, CEO of the Canawaima Management Company, told Times of Suriname that the operation went smoothly. It is not clear if the ferry will take more people across the river. Jairam pointed out that the passengers did not have any flu symptoms. All passengers were screened and tested upon their arrival from Guyana by workers from the Public Health Bureau (BOG). Jairman explained that all of the 41 passengers will be put in mandatory quarantine for 14 days. The passengers were initially discontent with the fact that they had to go into mandatory quarantine. They stopped complaining after officials had explained the seriousness of the situation to them. “There was also a problem with a few passengers who had to return to Guyana because the Guyanese authorities refused to accept them due to the fact that they do not have the Guyanese nationality. That issue has also been resolved,” said Jairam who added that between 50 and 60 passengers were initially expected to arrive but that not everybody returned home. She could not indicate why they did not choose to come back. The ferry service between Suriname and Guyana was halted on March 14 in order to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.