REMEMBERING A FRONTLINE Heathrow immigration officer Terminal 3 worker Sudhir Sharma, 61 and his daughter pharmacist who worked at Eastbourne District General Hospital in East Sussex, Pooja, 33 died from coronavirus 24 hours apart at the end of March 2020.

REMEMBERING A FRONTLINE Heathrow immigration officer Terminal 3 worker Sudhir Sharma, 61 and his daughter pharmacist who worked at Eastbourne District General Hospital in East Sussex, Pooja, 33 died from coronavirus 24 hours apart at the end of March 2020.
Airport employees have told The Sun that they had major fears over protection offered to UK Immigration and visa staff working at Heathrow and other ports of entry.
One Heathrow worker said: “The first signs of coronavirus came in December and we were still taking flights in from Wuhan, where the pandemic began.
“They did do some screening of passengers before those routes were finally cancelled, but flights from China generally continued.
“And even when those were restricted, we had hundreds of people flying in on Chinese passports from Hong Kong. They simply by-passed the block.
“We were still accepting flights from northern Italy until six weeks ago or so. And there are still flights coming in from Madrid and all over the US.
“When they arrive, all we are given is some hand gel and gloves. No face masks, no screens.
“Even check-out staff at Morrisons supermarkets have those now. It’s madness.” The source added: “We had a passenger a few days ago, a Serbian who flew in from the US to see his girlfriend in the UK.
“He was denied entry but the US refused to take him back, so he’s now on immigration bail here.”
The worker also revealed that two colleagues arrived for work at Terminal 3 a few days ago wearing their own facemasks — only to be ordered to take them off.
They added: “We have immigration entry clearance officers still clearing visit visas for people abroad to come to the UK in the middle of this crisis. Why?
“Citizens of the USA, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea can all sweep through the E-gate systems here without dealing with an immigration officer.
“Middle management are pretty supportive but the directors and assistant directors, working from home or in a cocooned office, have done very little to help.
“There are probably 300 staff at each terminal. They should have been shut down weeks ago.”
When asked about immigration employees’ lack of personal protective equipment, a Home Office spokeswoman told The Sun: “The safety of the public and our staff is of the utmost importance.
“In line with Public Health England guidance, all staff have protective clothing and equipment available, includingmasks and disposable gloves, for when they are in close contact with anyone displaying symptoms.”
Questions are being asked on whether Heathrow Airport should have limited flights from coronavirus hotspotHeathrow is still accepting flights in from abroad as Brits scramble to get home
UK coronavirus death toll rises to 759 with over 14,000 infected as both Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock test positive -Sun
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