by Linda Straker
- Nationals will arrive via cruise ship whose sole purpose is to drop workers at home ports
- All returning cruise ship nationals will be tested and quarantined as advised in WHO health protocols
- Costs the state approximately EC$9,500 to keep a person in quarantine for 14 days
Tourism Minister, Clarice Modeste, has confirmed that several Grenadians who are crew members of cruise ships that are presently not sailing because of Covid-19 regulations will be returning to Grenada between 4–15 May 2020.
“Right now, as I speak to you, the date for St George’s arrival is not finalised based on the correspondence I saw, but I can confirm to you that they will be returning this month,” she said on Monday.
The nationals will not be arriving via aircraft landing at Maurice Bishop International Airport, but from a cruise ship whose sole purpose is to drop workers at home port destinations in this region. Apart from Grenada, the minister was not aware which other islands will be visited before or after St George’s.
She further explained that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US had issued a “no sail order” for cruise ships in US waters. That order according to the Federal Register will be for 100 days beginning 15 April and ending 24 July 2020.
Some ships left US ports before the order came into effect and headed for ports in the Caribbean such as the Bahamas where the US has no jurisdiction. “Some of the ships are already in Caribbean waters and the management believes it’s much easier to get them home using a ship than using an aircraft,” she said.
Modeste, who is a medical doctor by profession, said that she fully understands that science for Covid-19 is continuously evolving and as a result all returning nationals on the cruise ship will be tested and quarantined for the required number of days as advised in WHO health protocols.
“Some are saying that the time on the ship can be counted as quarantine time, but we will follow the rules once they are in Grenada and have them be quarantined, while at the same time allowing them to have a form of communication with families here,” she said. “We have already identified a place for them,” she said but did not share the location.
The cost for the quarantine, which will be a period of no less than 14 days, will be shared between the state and the cruise ship management. “We already had that discussion and we have agreed on a format for the cost to take care of the bill which will incur,” she said.
An early estimate shows that it costs the state approximately EC$9,500 to keep a person in quarantine for 14 days. While in quarantine, all the crew members will have samples sent to the laboratory for PCR Covid-19 testing.
Worldwide, Covid-19 which is caused by a novel coronavirus, has infected millions and caused the death of thousands. To date, there have been 21 confirmed cases in Grenada.
Quarentine for 14 DAYS??? Utter nonsense! It’s now up to 30 days in an increasing number of countries because you can test negative in a 14-day period and STILL HAVE THE VIRUS!!
Quare time for 14 DAYS??? Utter nonsense! It’s now up to 30 days in an increasing number of countries because you can test negative in a 14-day period and STILL HAVE THE VIRUS!!
Well you can be positive of Covid 19 and test negative .
What monitoring will be done for individuals quarantined to avoid another instance of “sneaking out” like the positive patient who got to and through the airport and immigration to board a plane to Canada, potentially infecting hundreds in doing so…we must avoid and contain community spread, or all of our efforts and sacrifice over these last weeks will be for naught! Well done so far, Grenada!
Well done government of Grenada
Ok let’s stop looking at individual cost of quarantine and remember what is happening in Singapore and HongKong and China to a lesser extent when nationals returned and were self quarantined. I would love to be released from our isolating but not to then risk getting Covid from another import!
What crews line will they be coming from because communicating with someone outside on one of the crews ship said up to today they were awaiting a chartered flight to Granada.