180 passengers return from Dubai, quarantined for 14 days

A total of 180 passengers from Dubai returned to India and landed at the Pune airport on Sunday afternoon. All passengers underwent thermal screening conducted by

A total of 180 passengers from Dubai returned to India and landed at the Pune airport on Sunday afternoon. All passengers underwent thermal screening conducted by the Pune district health officials at the airport and were later sent to a private hotel to be institutionally quarantined for 14 days.

Kozhikode: Passengers arrive from Kuwait by an Air India flight at Calicut International Airport, during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, in Kozhikode, Thursday, May 14, 2020. The government is evacuating Indian nationals who are stranded in foreign countries under its ‘Vande Bharat’ mission. (PTI Photo)(PTI14-05-2020_000038B) (PTI)

Since no passengers showed any Covid-19 related symptoms, nobody was taken to the hospital from the airport, according to officials.

Dubai-based businessman and vice president of the Maharashtrian Business Forum, Rahul Tulpule, made the arrangements for the flight. Tulpule’s efforts were realised after subsequent talks with the Indian consulate and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Nitin Bhosale, one of the passengers on the flight, said, “In Dubai, the lockdown period is during the night, so we all were brought to the Dubai airport on Saturday night by bus at around 10pm. We spent the night at the airport and were very excited to go back to our country. On Sunday morning, we boarded the flight and it took off at 8:45 am. The flight landed Pune airport at 1:30 pm.”

Bhosale had gone to Dubai for an IT project for his company.

“When we reached the Pune airport, social distancing was maintained and all the coordination by the airport staff and health officials were excellent. After our medical checks, they had arranged a bus for all of us and brought us to a private hotel for institutional quarantine and later, we will be home quarantine ourselves,” he said.