A 17-day-old baby was detained at the Piarco International Airport along with his family shortly after arriving in the country from Orlando, Florida on September 17.
According to the baby’s father, Satyanand Dubey it was because they did not furnish a negative PCR test prior to entry on the advice of a Caribbean Airlines agent.
“When we enquired from Caribbean Airlines, they told us the newborn baby don’t have to take it. It’s two years and above (who have to take the PCR test),” Dubey said.
Upon arrival, Dubey said they were detained and told that the baby was not exempt from the PCR test and will need to be placed into quarantine.
“I said it’s not our fault and we are willing to go home. If you want to get police to escort us to make sure we are going to our house in Trinidad and first thing in the morning we will get somebody to do it. My wife immediately called the girl who did the PCR for us to leave Trinidad and she said she would come to our home first thing in the morning,” he said.
“They said no that cannot happen. You cannot go home with your baby.”
He said they were even prevented from getting supplies out of their nearby checked baggage to change the baby who was now irritated and crying.
“From 7.30 till 10 o’clock at night we were there. I raised my voice—I wasn’t rude to anybody because it was stressful. I waiting to go home and it was tiring and the baby was crying non-stop so I said look we’re not going into this (quarantine) because why did you allow us to board the plane in Orlando?” he said.
As a pundit by profession, he said there were certain religious duties he had to perform for his newborn which could not wait for them to exit quarantine. He said he expressed this to them and also conveyed his concern for his wife and newborn’s safety at the quarantine facility.
“When I told them that the lady went and bring five of these airport policemen or security guard or whoever they are in khaki uniform with guns. They came in close vicinity with me with guns in the room to kinda like threaten me,” he said.
“I had to say it, and I’m sorry I had to say it, I say is this racially motivated? When I said that the five policemen with the guns left.”
Dubey said after several back and forths with the authorities, they were placed into state-supervised quarantine at the Regent Star Hotel. He said an official from a private hospital visited them there and took the PCR test sample from the newborn which returned negative. After this, they were allowed to return home with the baby.
He said now, he wants nothing to do with Caribbean Airlines.
“That’s my swan song with them. They gave us bad information and they (at the airport) were very much impersonal and how they treated us— it was very disappointing and I’m ashamed to be a Trinidadian. It caused us a lot of stress actually and wife had just delivered a baby so it was very stressful and I’m disappointed,” Dubey said.
Asked who he blames for their predicament, Dubey said: “We don’t know who to blame...I don’t know. But something wrong happened to us and I want to find out why. That’s all.”
Policy shows no exemptions for children
According to the Ministry of Health’s Quarantine Protocols for Passengers Entering into Trinidad and Tobago, everyone entering into the country is required to provide a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival. The policy defines a child as anyone under the age of 18. For those who are unvaccinated but are travelling with a party where everyone is fully vaccinated, they are also required to submit a negative PCR test between three and five days of arrival into the country. There is no mention of an exemption for children under the age of two. However, Guardian Media reached out to Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh and Chief Medical Officer for a definitive statement on the policy.
No responses were received up to press time.
CAL calls incident ‘an anomaly’
Guardian Media also reached out to Caribbean Airlines Limited for clarification on why the family was told they didn’t need the test and why they were allowed to board the aircraft if it was in fact required.
“The alleged incident is indeed an anomaly, as Caribbean Airlines strictly adheres to the instructions of the Public Health Authorities in all jurisdictions in which the airline operates,” head of Corporate Communications at the airline Dionne Ligoure said in response.
“I will immediately ask the relevant internal stakeholders to investigate and advise. It is regrettable that the family experienced this inconvenience.”
Dubey had expressed concern over the safety of conducting a PCR test on a newborn, however, paediatrician Dr Petronella Manning-Alleyne assured that it indeed is safe.
“We do PCR tests on babies when we need to but it needs to be done by somebody who needs to know what they are doing, somebody who is accustomed to handling babies. I wouldn’t allow any and anybody to do a PCR, nasopharyngeal swab on the baby but yes it can be safely done,” she said.
