Authorities helped bring us home very quickly, say Omani students

Muscat: Omani students who’ve been brought home to help them avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus have thanked their government for flying them out so quickly.

Al Shabiba, the sister publication of Times of Oman, met at Muscat International Airport some of the students who’d returned to the country, after going through COVID-19 screening procedures. These students will now be placed in isolation until their tests come back negative.

One of the female students who arrived from the United States of America said: “Honestly, I am very proud to be a daughter of the Sultanate. Many of the countries did not do much for their overseas students, but because we are students of the Sultanate, we are fortunate that tickets were booked for us within a day and, we were able to return to the country. Everything went well for us.”

She added: "I have chosen to go into institutional quarantine in order to preserve the safety of my family."

Explaining the steps taken by the Embassy of Oman in Washington to evacuate the students, another student added: "The embassy of Oman made a great effort to bring us home and sent us forms to register ourselves. I chose to undertake domestic quarantine.”

Another student said: "The Ministry of Higher Education, especially the Cultural Attaché in Washington, helped us a lot to return to the Sultanate through a very easy process. I chose the domestic quarantine because I have a private room with a toilet. I thank the His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Cultural Attaché in Washington."

"The Cultural Attaché in Washington and the Omani Embassy made great efforts to ensure our safe return to the homeland within only three to four days - a short period of time. I chose the institutional quarantine to keep my brothers safe," added another student.

"I chose the institutional quarantine because it is safer than the domestic quarantine, and in my personal opinion, I am more worried about my family than I am about myself,” another Omani student went on to say.”

"I chose institutional quarantine because my sister had come from the United Kingdom and had chosen domestic quarantine so both of us couldn't be at home," explained one of the students.