Still at sea

The Covid-19 outbreak unfolding in Barbadian waters aboard a cruise vessel which originated here poses absolutely no threat to the health or safety of local residents, even as passengers eventually seek to return to their countries of origin.

This was the assurance from Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic on Friday as he confirmed that seven passengers aboard the SeaDream 1 cruise ship had tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The infected passengers have been transferred to the isolation facility at Harrison’s, St Lucy, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George later disclosed in a separate interview with Barbados TODAY.

The cruise liner, SeaDream 1, sailed out of the Bridgetown Port last Saturday with 53 passengers and 66 crew on a seven-day cruise but was forced to return to the island late Wednesday night after the ship’s captain reported to local authorities that a passenger had fallen ill and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing a PCR rapid test.  The sick passenger was transported to Harrison Point when the ship docked.

According to Bostic, no one else was allowed to leave the vessel as health authorities tested some 34 passengers that evening.

“We actually went on-board the vessel after midnight and did the swabbing of those presumptive positive cases and we followed that through with contact tracing.”

This, he said helped to ensure there was no risk to Barbadians at any stage.

“There was no mingling in Barbados and there are no issues whatsoever. That vessel departed Barbados having conducted its own testing for persons as well and all of the tests were negative at that time. So there are no issues there,” he added.

Another 49 people on board the vessel were tested on Thursday

“I can safely say that we are assisting as we have been doing all the time, and that assistance is being provided through the Best Dos Santos Lab in terms of testing,” disclosed Bostic.

“We have the capacity to do so, it is not an issue and there is absolutely no compromise from our perspective in terms of public health in Barbados, so there is nothing at all for Barbadians to be worried about,” Bostic added.

Dr George disclosed that the positive cases would not be reflected in Barbados’ numbers since it is regarded as a humanitarian mission.  There are currently 249 cases of the viral illness here.

The SeaDream Yacht Club cruise was the first to return to the Caribbean since the coronavirus pandemic shut operations down in March.

On Friday the cruise line in a statement expressed its gratitude to the Government of Barbados for the humanitarian assistance rendered.

“SeaDream is greatly appreciative of the Government of Barbados’ support and offer of medical resources to help us resolve this unfortunate situation,” said owner’s representative Andreas Brynestad.

“In our plans for our relaunch in the Caribbean we aligned ourselves with Barbados largely because we knew of Barbados’ reputation as a cooperative partner,” she added.

The health minister meanwhile gave the assurance that as with the repatriation of thousands of passengers and crew members at the height of the pandemic in Barbados, any evacuations would be done in a comprehensive manner and in keeping with public health protocols.

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)