‘They must be tested in Barbados’

The Trinidad and Tobago government is adamant that its 33 nationals in Barbados must be tested with the kits, which it provided to the Barbados authorities over two weeks ago.

The 33 nationals were denied a request to land in Tobago on Wednesday.

A senior source at the Ministry of National Security said: “We sent the COVID-19 test kits to Barbados over two weeks ago. It would have been irresponsible to allow our quarantined nationals onto a plane with possibly contaminated people.

“We have been requesting that our nationals be tested with the kits we provided from the first day that they began their quarantine in Barbados. We are protecting our nationals in Barbados from the possibility of contracting the virus, and we want them to be safe and to return to Trinidad safely.”

According to a story in the Barbados Nation, the group was to have boarded a Condor flight, which left on Wednesday for Tobago, but the Government denied its request to land in that island.

Last Sunday, the Barbados health minister said the group had been cleared of the coronavirus. However, National Security Minister Stuart Young told a news conference that the proposal was soon as the nationals complete their quarantine cycle in Barbados, the T&T Government would ask the Barbadian authorities to test them with the kits provided by the Trinidad and Tobago Government, and if they (the nationals) test negative, they will then have to make the arrangements to return home, which he would “give consideration to”.

Young stressed the medical experts, namely Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and his team at the ministry, will advise whether they would have to be put into quarantine when they re-enter Trinidad and Tobago. (Trinidad Express)