48 more stranded Guyanese return home from US

…73 US citizens depart

By Shemar Alleyne

After some delay, 48 Guyanese returned home on Tuesday from the United States of America after being stranded owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The passengers arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) via Eastern Airlines flight 182 from the Miami International Airport.

However, upon its departure, the aircraft will carry 73 citizens of the United States who were stranded in Guyana following the closure of Guyana’s borders, including airspace, from March 18, 2020.
At the CJIA, Guyana Times caught up with some of the elated Guyanese who stated that “it is great being back home.” Some of them were stranded in the US for more than four months.

“It is great being back home; a lot of confusion first to get on the flight, but once you get your name of the list, then everything was smooth from there. I am just happy to be back home, because there is no place like home,” one passenger, Mohammed Khan stated.
Another incoming passenger, King Solomon, stated that he was “optimistic” that things would change in Guyana, so that the country can return to normalcy.
“I feel relief and relaxed that I am home now, and it is time to get back to business and see what I can do now. Hopefully, everything changes, and the country is able to return back to normal,” Solomon posited.

Also, businesswoman Roshanie Lyub stated that she was “stressed out” after being stuck in the US.
“I went in the US since March 12, and I supposed to return on April 3, but when the airport shut down, I got stuck for three months one week. It was so stressful because you have your family back home, and I have my business and just sit there doing nothing and is my husband alone, and he needs me, and it was so stressful,” Lyub explained.
“I have been in the United States for five months. That experience has been suffocating. It was terrible. I love my country, and now it feels that I can breathe. I give thanks to all those who made it possible for us to return home. It still has Guyanese who are suffering, and I would like them to get help too, especially those in New York,” another passenger, Dione Basdeo stated.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that two Caribbean Airlines flights that were supposed to repatriate Guyanese stranded overseas were recently cancelled as the Foreign Affairs Ministry failed to submit the list of passengers to the airline 48 hours before the flight was scheduled to depart.
The first batch of stranded Guyanese was repatriated from the US on June 6 on a flight from Miami, USA via an Eastern Airlines flight.
However, once cleared, the repatriated passengers were then placed under home quarantine for seven days with representatives of the Public Health Ministry checking on their well-being on a daily basis through visits or telephone calls.

Senior Government officials, including the caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General Egbert Field, pledged weekly flights to have stranded citizens reunited with their families in Guyana.
The National COVID-19 Task Force had approved the controlled re-entry of approximately 300 Guyanese through the nation’s international airports, providing they follow a series of strict guidelines, including securing a negative COVID-19 test and agreeing to self-quarantine.