Thirty-three Trinidad and Tobago nationals  arrived on home soil via two flights on Tuesday afternoon, after spending nearly one month in Barbados, having missed the deadline to return home before this country closed its borders on March 22nd.

The ordeal is not yet over for the group, however, as they will spend the next 14 days under mandatory State quarantine at the National Raquet Centre in Tacarigua.

The first batch of 16 nationals was due to leave Barbados at 10:30 this morning but their flight was delayed by a last minute decision to test the group prior to them boarding the aircraft.

A chartered One Caribbean Flight aircraft flew in the second batch of 17 persons this afternoon.

Both groups were tested at the Paragon Medical Facility in Barbados.

Upon arriving in Trinidad, they were immediately transported to Tacarigua, accompanied by a military convoy shortly before 3pm.

Their samples taken Barbados will be tested and results provided as soon as feasible.

At government’s press briefing on March 25th, National Security Minister justified the policy for the returning group to undergo another two week quarantine, saying “Once you go to an international airport and you enter onto an international flight, you are now back up to maximum amount of risks.”

At a conference on Tuesday morning, hours before their arrival, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said medical attention will be provided for the group of mostly elderly persons, including health concerns other than COVID-19.