No food, scared: Ordeal of a UK student returning home
Fear of getting infected by Covid-19 in a flight packed with 300 passengers bothered all on board, says Anushka
As the Emirates flight EK012 took off from London’s Gatwick Airport at 9.40 am on March 17, Anushka Singhvee, a student at the University of Buckingham, who was onboard along with two of her varsity friends, was on the edge.
For the last 15 days, she had been taking all precautions to ward off the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), particularly keeping distance with other individuals. But once on board the flight, she found herself in the midst of over 300 people, a majority of them students from different universities across UK headed back to India, all of them in an understandable panic mode.
Eleven hours later, after a brief stopover in Dubai, when the flight touched down at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Shamshabad, at 2.17 am, all passengers alighted from the aircraft and began lining up for the mandatory screening for Covid-19.
Anushka’s heart must have sunk when she saw some passengers, who had travelled in the same flight, getting placed under quarantine, indicating they had shown some symptoms of the virus. When her turn came, she was asked to fill two forms, was screened thoroughly and made to wait. Minutes later, she was cleared to go, but advised self-quarantine.
Pursuing her BSc in Philosophy at Buckingham University, Anushka, a resident of Gachibowli, is among hundreds of students studying in the UK, who went into a panic mode after the Centre imposed travel restrictions and prohibited Indian passport holders residing in UK and other countries from entering India after March 18.
The Emirates flight, which brought scores of students, including Anushka, to Hyderabad, reached only a couple of hours before restrictions were to come into force. Over the last fortnight, a majority of international flights were almost empty.
“My two friends, Shambhavi and Koumudhi, and I, made up our minds to leave UK and return to India within two hours. With great difficulty, we booked tickets on March 16 evening and boarded the flight next morning. The decision to prohibit Indian passport holders from entering the country from March 18 onwards has caught all students offguard, since it gave us very little time to react. We just wanted to ensure we reach India before March 18,” said Anushka, sharing her experience with Deccan Chronicle, from the comfort of her home, even if sequestered.
The ordeal began for her after the university sounded a choice of returning home to foreign students due to worldwide lockdown late on Monday evening. Hours later, Indian students learnt about travel restrictions from March 18. UK is amongst the worst affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.
“We had to decide (whether to return or stay put in UK) immediately as we were not sure what would happen in near future. The next day morning, we were on an Emirates flight with our masks and gloves on,” she recalls.
It was hardly a memorable flight. With vegetarian meals much in demand on flights due to myths that meat might transmit Covid19, many passengers including her had to go hungry as there was a shortage of vegetarian meal on the flight.
“There were quite a few who could not get a vegetarian meal. We travelled without food all the way to Hyderabad,” she said. But more than hunger, it was the fear of getting infected by the deadly virus in a flight packed to capacity was what was bothering all passengers.
“At the Hyderabad airport, I was asked to fill two forms. One pertained to queries about my health and personal details. I was asked to mention whether I had cold, cough or fever. Thereafter, there was screening. Though I had no symptoms, I was preparing myself in case health officials would have suggested a mandatory quarantine. Though I was lucky enough, the sight of other passengers being placed under quarantine had me scared,” she said, adding that it took close to two hours to come out of the airport.
Outside, her parents, Prashant and Barkha, along with other family members were relieved when they finally spotted their daughter coming out at around 4 am.
“The last 24 hours have been the most tense moments. Anushka had joined the university only in January this year. We are not sure what the situation will be in a month from now and whether she can go back to UK,” said Prashant, a businessman.
For the family, there are still tense moments ahead as their elder daughter Preksha, who is pursuing her business studies in Canada, is presently on flight and would be arriving in Hyderabad tomorrow.
“I am keeping my fingers crossed,” Prashant added.