Coronavirus: Travel company boss ‘in personal contact’ with Peterborough couple frustrated by isolation in Indian hotel

Maxine and Graham Moore from Northborough jetted out to India on March 5 having saved up for a trip of a lifetime with Mercury Holidays.

RELATED: Coronavirus: Peterborough couple’s dream holiday to India turns into nightmare after being hauled off flight and into quarantine

But the outbreak of Covid-19 has ruined their plans after they were hauled off their flight home moments before it was due to take off and sent to a hotel in the southern state of Kerala without explanation.

The forced quarantine was later linked to a member of the touring group who was tested for coronavirus, although there are conflicting reports as to whether he tested positive or not.

The couple’s daughter Lara told the Peterborough Telegraph on Monday that the touring party had been put in rooms with no air conditioning despite temperatures reaching 36 Celsius, while some were said to have no working toilet or fridge.

The group, many of whom are pensioners, were also allegedly being charged for water, while Lara said it took two days for her parents to receive any information as to what was happening.

But Tom Bugeja, CEO of Mercury Holidays, told the Peterborough Telegraph he is in personal contact with the families, including in a WhatsApp group which includes a member of the Kerala health authority and tourism authority, as well as the business in India Mercury Holidays works with.

He said: “I’ve been in personal contact with this group since the start.

“The air conditioning is off because the hotel refused to turn it on because it feared the possible spread of the coronavirus. They have now been provided with fans.

“They are being looked after as well as possible and are not having to pay for water.

“I’ve also been in constant communication with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in India and the UK.”

Maxine has since been in contact with the PT to insist that the information provided by her daughter was correct, including initially being asked to pay for water.

She said her and Graham also had to repeatedly ask for toilet roll and towels, adding: “We felt very let down, isolated and had been awake 37 hours by the time we arrived here.”

She also praised the efforts of the hotel manager and staff and said that she is now receiving updates, although the couple have not been given any reassurances about what happens next.

She told the PT yesterday: “Things have improved slightly, we now have air conditioning and this evening access to a roof garden.

“This afternoon we had swabs taken. We are slightly more hopeful that things are on the move!”

Maxine and Graham, who are both in their late 50s, are part of a touring group of around 17 whose trip was halted last week after one person developed flu-like symptoms.

They were told to stay in a hotel on Wednesday and Thursday last week while the person was tested, and when the result apparently came back negative they were booked on a flight by the tour operator to return home on Saturday to make sure they were not stranded in the country.

But their return home did not go to plan, according to Lara. “They were removed from the plane and taken by ambulance to a hotel even though they have no symptoms,” she said.

Local media were reporting that the man who was tested did actually have coronavirus and boarded the plane leaving India.

However, Maxine said the man never boarded the plane, and that he was pulled aside by airport staff.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are in close contact with the Indian authorities and are providing consular assistance to the British people affected by ongoing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in India.”