A passenger ship carrying almost 300 people was not allowed to dock in Puerto Madrin, southern Argentina, and its occupants were isolated yesterday, Tuesday, after a SARS-CoV-2 case was detected, amid concerns about the new Omicron variant. of the new coronavirus.
The Latin American country’s health ministry said in a press release that it had “ordered the isolation of all passengers on the Hamburg ship” after the incident was identified.
The ship, sailing under the Bahamas flag, is at sea off the coast of Saborobon Bay, about 280 kilometers southeast of Buenos Aires. He made a stopover in the Argentine capital on Friday.
After the boat was alerted to the possible case, PCR tests were performed within 24 hours on the 170 passengers and 156 crew members, all of whom had a “negative result”, including “the person who was considered (what is) the suspected case” and continues to be isolated on the ship, noted the Minister of Health, Carla Vitsotti.
However, a member of the crew – of his medical staff -, who had been tested with a negative result on Saturday, did an antigen test with a positive result yesterday, Monday. The person is “asymptomatic”, the Hamburg captain said, according to the ministry’s press release.
An epidemiological investigation is underway on the ship, the results of which “will show us what the next steps are to be followed”, according to the same source.
37 passengers disembarked in Buenos Aires after it became known that the results of the tests they underwent were negative, while 152 boarded.
The ship was en route to the south coast of Argentina, but the port authority in Puerto Madrid, 1,300 km from Buenos Aires, announced on Tuesday that it would not allow it to dock. His next stop is Ushuaia, at 3,000 kilometers.
Referring to the concern raised by the location of the Omicron variant, although to date Argentina has not confirmed any of its cases, the ministry noted that Cape Verde, where Hamburg had previously docked, “is more than 600 km from the African continent.” , as well as that “the epidemiological situation in this country is favorable”, with “a weekly average of five cases of the new coronavirus per day”.
Nevertheless, “in view of the danger posed by the new Omicron variant” and “as a precaution, the measures taken have been decided,” he added.
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