Americas News
Covid-19 Positive Docker Closes LA Terminal: Report
A dockworker testing positive for covid-19 has forced a terminal closure at the Port of Los Angeles.
According to maritime news provider Lloyd's List, the incident saw the union dispatch hall closed overnight for cleaning. Another terminal was put on reduced hours from a labour shortage.
Dockers in Melbourne refused to unload a ship that had not passed 14 days in quarantine before docking.
The International Maritime Organisation has added its voice to the call to make seafaring an essential service. Authorities should not introduce obstacles to "ship and port operatoins" so that the flow of commerce by sea is not "unnecessarily disrupted", an IMO statement said.
Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has told foreign-flagged passenger ships that covid-19 patients should be cared for onboard as the US health care system is overwhelmed.
In a medical bulleting covering the Seventh District Area of Responsibility affected by covid-19, it states that vessels with "more than 50 persons" should care for individuals covid-19 like symptoms onboard "as shore-side medical facilities may reach full capacity and lose the ability to accept and effectivley treat additional, critically-ill patients".
The notice adds that the Port of Miami is "no longer accepting medical evacuations due to limited hospital capacity".
