Despite increased precautions and protocols, ports are still
challenged to control the spread of the COVID-19 from arriving ships. In the
latest example, port employees in Darwin, Australia have been placed in
quarantine after a potential exposure to the virus.
Heath authorities for the Northern Territory in Australia
reported that a 25-year-old crew member on board a livestock carrier named the
Diamantina had tested positive for the virus after the ship arrived on the
evening of December 27 from Indonesia. The 2,960 DWT livestock carrier
registered in Singapore was in the port to load cattle for export.
The crew member was tested on board the vessel upon arrival
into Darwin, according to the health authorities and was moved to a shoreside
hospital after testing positive. Following the protocols, he did not leave the
ship prior to being admitted to the hospital.
While the individual did not come in direct contact with
residents of Darwin, and the risk is low to the general public, Health Minister
Natasha Fyles told the media that all precautions were being taken. All of the
crew members aboard the ship are being treated as close contacts potentially
exposed to the virus. While none of the other crew members have symptoms of the
virus, the entire crew has been placed in a mandatory 14-day quarantine with
the majority moved to a facility on shore. A skeleton crew remains aboard the
Diamantina and they will self-quarantine and agreed to undergo additional
testing.
As a further precaution, while port employees are reported
to have been wearing PPE while handling the docking, they have also been placed
in isolation. This includes the pilot who boarded the ship to assist with the
docking as well as other port workers who came in contact with the ship during
the docking.
With only 75 cases of the virus within the Northern
Territory, the officials stressed that this was a precaution to prevent further
introduction of COVID-19 into the region.