ANVISA imposes crew restrictions at Port of Santos to impede Omicron variant

The advance of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus has left the port sector on alert. ANVISA (the national health surveillance agency) has imposed new rules that prevent the embarking or disembarking of crew members who have traveled to six countries in Africa within the last 14 days. Everyone must go through quarantine, and take the test that detects the virus.

The health authority issued two technical notes recommending temporary restrictive measures with regard to travelers from countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, including the crew of cargo vessels. The rules were issued after the publication of an ordinance by Brazil’s Department of State which follows measures adopted in other countries to prevent the entry of this new variant of Covid-19 into the country.

According to José Roque, executive director of SINDAMAR (the union of maritime navigation agencies of the state of São Paulo), the docking of ships coming directly from Africa is not very frequent. Even so, there is an impact on shipowners’ logistics.

In practice, the new rules prevent the disembarkation of crew members who are aboard freighters that passed through the countries less than two weeks ago. In this case, the fear is that a seafarer may have contact on land with port workers and consequently contaminate them with the new variant.

In addition, it forces those who board during a stopover at the Port of Santos to quarantine before disembarking in Brazil. In this case, seafarers normally leave their countries of origin by plane to board at the Santos pier.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the full original article, visit the link:

https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/anvisa-impoe-restricoes-a-tripulantes-no-porto-de-santos-apos-casos-da-variante-omicron

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