The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

INCOMING Bahamian travellers from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale flights yesterday were allowed to quarantine at home but had to download an app for tracking, they told The Tribune.

This falls in line with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ announcement on Sunday stating Bahamians and residents returning to the country without a negative RT-PCR COVID-19 test result from an accredited lab will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return, via the Hubbcat Monitoring App. However on Tuesday, passengers arriving from Grand Bahama ahead of the island’s two week lockdown were taken to a government quarantine facility. It is unclear how many of them were placed in the facility.

The Tribune canvassed the airport yesterday afternoon, which was the last day for US commercial flights to enter. Flights came from Fort Lauderdale on Bahamasair and Miami on American Airlines.

The process after landing seemed to be lengthy at Lynden Pindling International Airport. Navado Dawkins explained there was insufficient staff and there should have been more people available to speed up the process.

“Actually two nurses are there taking the data and there’s one on the line preparing you for that,” he said.

“I met a girl in there, she came to me because I guess the nurse had told her I have an iPhone and she had an iPhone but she was knocked out of her iCloud. She’s literally up there. She can’t get in her iCloud, so she can’t download the app and they tell her she has to wait …she near tears. This process is really annoying.”

Mr Dawkins was permitted to quarantine at home and had downloaded the app. He had taken a test in June but the restrictions changed, requiring a negative COVID-19 result 10 days before departure.

His flight from Miami was delayed from 10.30am to 2.45pm and he said he was left “annoyed as hell” after his journey to Nassau.

“So I went to go board my flight today, had a horrible incident with clerk at the desk today. She had to call back Nassau to figure out if residents could come back without the online visa thing they had going on, which I had no idea either. They finally got the okay five minutes before the flight can closed to get us out without the online visa.”

Although it is unknown when American commercial flights will resume, 21-year-old Monet McGlone still decided to come to the Bahamas. Asked why as an American she came, she said she is in a long-distance relationship and came to visit her boyfriend.

“I haven’t seen my boyfriend in about six months now so I want to see him before he goes off to med school before I finish my senior year of undergrad,” she told The Tribune.

“I definitely was a little anxious not knowing like when or if I’m going to be able to get back but at the same time I have faith that I will be able to get back in time before, like, my college starts again.”

The Las Vegas resident said it took some time to schedule her COVID-19 test, making sure she was getting the right one.

“I had to reschedule my coronavirus test a few times in order to get the RT-PCR test because a lot of places in Las Vegas don’t state that it’s that kind of test even though it is,” she said.

“So it took until the day before to actually get my health visa approved and so that was kinda difficult but once it got approved everything was smooth sailing from there.”