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Continued from previous
On the Sunday afternoon, the scene at Christchurch Airport highlighted things were not normal. While a large number of flights had been cancelled, the queue at check in was long, with lots of nervous people all keen to get home to various locations around the world. The flight was Christchurch to Sydney then on to Dubai. As Australia had closed its border to non-residents, all the transit passengers had to go through a two stage check in process, with Germans not able to check in at all, due to not being able to transit in Dubai.
Sydney Airport was not well organised. One man, wearing mask, gloves and gown, was trying to hand out 2 papers off different piles to all those staying in Sydney. All other staff were standing well back. The single person was not sufficient, particularly as he didn’t want people taking any forms off the pile themselves. At immigration we needed to fill in the form, stating that we would self isolate at home. We were directed to benches with pens, but there was no sanitiser to be seen. With people coming in off many different flights, the use of bench and pens by all seemed to me to be a good way to pass on the virus (I used my own pen). Customs staff were standing well clear, and I had a very quick trip through.
Once through Custom’s I found my shuttle ride home, which had been booked before I went away. While the advice was to wear a mask, I was not able to obtain one and we were not issued them when we arrived. There was only one other lady in the shuttle with me, and we both sat as far apart as possible.
To be continued
On the Sunday afternoon, the scene at Christchurch Airport highlighted things were not normal. While a large number of flights had been cancelled, the queue at check in was long, with lots of nervous people all keen to get home to various locations around the world. The flight was Christchurch to Sydney then on to Dubai. As Australia had closed its border to non-residents, all the transit passengers had to go through a two stage check in process, with Germans not able to check in at all, due to not being able to transit in Dubai.
Sydney Airport was not well organised. One man, wearing mask, gloves and gown, was trying to hand out 2 papers off different piles to all those staying in Sydney. All other staff were standing well back. The single person was not sufficient, particularly as he didn’t want people taking any forms off the pile themselves. At immigration we needed to fill in the form, stating that we would self isolate at home. We were directed to benches with pens, but there was no sanitiser to be seen. With people coming in off many different flights, the use of bench and pens by all seemed to me to be a good way to pass on the virus (I used my own pen). Customs staff were standing well clear, and I had a very quick trip through.
Once through Custom’s I found my shuttle ride home, which had been booked before I went away. While the advice was to wear a mask, I was not able to obtain one and we were not issued them when we arrived. There was only one other lady in the shuttle with me, and we both sat as far apart as possible.
To be continued