Approx. 1300 Guyanese return since June 6−more to arrive on flights from Trinidad, Miami, New York and Toronto

−Foreign Affairs Ministry working on return of students in Cuba

By Shaquille Bourne

The National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) has facilitated the return of approximately 1300 Guyanese who were stranded abroad, since June 6.

This was disclosed by Chairman of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority’s Board of Directors, Lt. Col. (ret’d) Larry London at a virtual meeting of the National COVID-19 Task Force Secretariat.

Flights have thus far brought home nationals who were stationed in Miami, New York, Barbados and Miami.

On July 9, London confirmed the first flight out of Toronto, Canada will land at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with citizens via WestJet.

Nearly 140 Guyanese are already booked for the Toronto to CJIA flight, while some 110 persons are slated to head to Canada on the return leg of the same flight.

The second week of July will also see another flight of closely 111 students in Trinidad making their way back to Guyana. Concerning students in Cuba, London noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working alongside its diplomatic counterparts in the Spanish-speaking nation to enable their repatriation.

Further, the GCAA Chairman announced citizens in Miami and New York will return on July 14 and 15, respectively.

All returning citizens are subjected to the guidelines set out by the NCTF, which includes but is not limited to a mandatory 7-day quarantine at their respective homes and the submission of a negative PCR test for COVID-19.

GCAA has extended the first phase of the reopening of its airports to the end of July due to spikes of the coronavirus in Florida, New York and within parts of Guyana.