A team from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Thursday inspected the COVID-19 measures in place at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) ahead of next week’s proposed reopening for international flights.
During the visit, the team scrutinised the measures at Guyana’s main international airport that aim to prevent persons with COVID-19 from entering or exiting the country.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) earlier this month unveiled its four-phase reopening plan to facilitate incoming and outgoing flights at the CJIA. GCAA Director General Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field had said that Guyana will begin the gradual reopening of its airspace from July 1st with a controlled number of flights coming into the country. During a webinar, Field and other stakeholders also spoke of measures that are being implemented to facilitate the movement of passengers through the two international airports to limit the spread of COVID-19.
These measures include fumigation of check-in and arrival, immigration and customs areas; erecting sanitisation stations at entrances/exits; port health booths for passenger evaluation and disinfection and sanitisation; placement of signage and social distance markings; installation of thermal imaging equipment to monitor passengers’
temperatures; and enhancement of crowd control protocols.
Field had, however, noted that the full reopening of the CJIA and the Eugene F Correia International Airport will depend on the state of readiness of the other international ports where flights to Guyana originate and Guyana’s MoPH.
Abraham Dorris, the Aviation Security Manager for the GCAA, said on Thursday that the authority thought it was best to collaborate with the MoPH as it relates to the safety regulations. He said that by combining regulations that mainly focus on the health and safety of passengers, they were able to stipulate requirements that have to be complied with by airline operators, airports and all other stakeholders. Dorris highlighted that the GCAA has a team that is mainly focused on enforcing these regulations and ensuring that persons comply. He added that regular audits will be done to ensure that mitigation measures are in place and are thoroughly followed.
Thursday’s visit to the airport focused mainly on the protocol that will be adopted to ensure persons are safe while travelling. Representatives of the MoPH, the GCCA and the Immigration Department were able to have a firsthand experience of what the persons travelling will experience.
Pleased
Saheed Saluman, GCAA’s Director of Air Transport Management, explained that the walk through and the measures that are being implemented are necessary as the GCAA is highly concerned about the public’s safety especially once the airport is reopened for public flying. Saluman also mentioned that of the four phases, Phase One was where all the planning for the reopening was done, making the airports being reopened the Second Phase, where they will see permanent residents, citizens, international workers, and diplomats come to Guyana.
“We are pleased with what we have seen. We are happy with what measures the airport has put into action. There are some areas that we need to tweak a little bit but we are pleased with what we have done,” Saluman said, while noting that for the most part, the airport has met the requirements for a safe reopening.
Patience
Meanwhile, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, the Chief Medical Officer, said that with the measures in place, passengers would have to exercise some patience.
“We had a good visit to the facility, looking through all the different states from arrival right through port checks and various services necessary for the entry into Guyana. We also looked at the departure procedures and those measures that are in place that help to ensure that in this pandemic period we can allow safe travel. Some of the more important areas that we looked at required a little bit more patience on the part of the travellers in terms of their need for compliance with all these guidelines. We know that there may be a little more than you usually experience with travelling, along with all those security measures, so we are pleading with everyone to really work with us as we try to make this a safe endeavour,” he said.
Additionally, Persaud reminded that these are necessary steps in ensuring that COVID-19 does not spread any further by persons travelling. He noted that for travellers coming to Guyana, they are advised to get a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic test done and if they show any signs of ailment or signs of COVID-19 prior to travelling, they should reconsider and not travel as a means of keeping everybody safe.
The medical official also highlighted that the washing of hands and wearing of face masks is still a critical step in prevention and that the act of social distancing is still required. Additionally, the airport staff will also be following safety measures as they conduct their work, while both travellers (except children) and their luggage will be sanitised with either alcohol-based sanitisers or other sanitising solutions, all of which are non-toxic.
These same measures were required and properly executed for repatriation flights to and from Guyana since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country and around the world.
