Covid 19 coronavirus: more Russian fishing crews test positive

More fishermen tested positive for Covid-19 after several cases at the Sudima Hotel in Christchurch.

A total of 18 of the group have tested positive, the Ministry of Health announced today.

The discovery continues yesterday that eleven of the fishermen had tested positive, another 14 cases were under investigation.

They are among 440 fishermen from Russia and Ukraine, 270 of whom will go out on three Independent Fisheries boats next month.

“I think it’s logical to expect that. We knew in planning that places like Russia are high risk,” Air Commodore Darryn Webb told Chris Lynch at Newstalk ZB.

Webb said it was not an “irrepressible outbreak” and something that happens at our facility.

The processes were robust and fit for purpose.

“We have an exclusive use facility for these fishermen. Part of the process from the beginning is that we know they come from a high risk area, so we provide a single location.”

He said there was a 24-hour delay while the aircraft worked its process in Moscow and the fishermen were gathered there for 48 hours and then en route for 18 hours.

That period of time provided an opportunity for the virus to spread.

“That could well be a risk factor for exposure.”

Webb said the quarantine procedures are working “absolutely.”

The Health Ministry said it was investigating after the cases were detected during routine tests on day three.

None involved cases in the community, he said.

The ministry said the positive cases were part of a group that were the only people staying at the facility.

The crew were mostly Russians and others came from Ukraine. Russia has registered more than 1.3 million cases of Covid-19, the fourth highest number of any country.

Webb said we should expect that anyone crossing the border could pose a risk.

“Infection prevention and control measures are consistent across the board.

“What we have seen in this case is just a number of covid cases, the same system is in place, it’s just a larger number.”

No changes to border waivers are being considered at this time

“The situation with the fishing crew shows that New Zealand’s border management systems are working as they should and demonstrates why strict border management, testing and isolation procedures are critical to our Covid response.”

“We put them in a dedicated facility, translated the welcome packs into Russian, added on-site translation services, and operated at level 4 to keep everyone safe,” said Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.

One hundred fishing crews have arrived on commercial flights since September, he said.

“We will continue to work with the fishing companies. At this stage, the next and last chartered flight is due to land on November 2. Based on what we have seen in this instance, we could make some changes, but it is too early to make those calls now.”

Authorities were reviewing the crew’s medical details and will likely find out today if the crew was tested before leaving Russia.

Seafood New Zealand CEO Jeremy Helson said all incoming fishermen were tested by Covid before boarding the charter flight to New Zealand.

“All the crew tested negative. This pre-flight test exceeded government requirements. While we wait to see how many cases there are, the fact that they were all detected in quarantine shows that the system is working well.”

Helson previously said that shore-bound ships would cost Sealord, Independent Fisheries and Maruha Nichiro tens of millions of dollars.

A New Zealand fisheries executive has praised the government’s quarantine system.
Yesterday, eleven international fishermen tested positive for Covid-19 at Christchurch’s Sudima MIQ, while 14 cases are under investigation.

Sealord CEO Doug Paulin says the news demonstrates the effectiveness of the government’s Covid-19 prevention systems.

He said the outbreak is not disappointing and that his company is happy that the government has strict protocols.

Of the 440 isolated foreign fishermen, 110 must work on Sealord’s boats.

Your company’s first port of call is monitoring the health of the people involved.

He said Sealord is making sure the people involved are healthy and that the financial position of his company is not a priority at this time.

Long-term risk needs to be addressed: epidemiologist

Epidemiologist professor Michael Baker says it is unusual that so many people in a managed isolation facility tested positive for Covid-19 if they were isolated and tested before arriving in New Zealand.

However, he says we shouldn’t worry.

“We are seeing imported cases pretty much every day in New Zealand and, just looking at the last few weeks, for example, we are seeing an average of about two imported cases per day entering managed isolation / quarantine facilities.

“Obviously, what we’re seeing here is a lot more cases in one day than usual.”

It’s part of an ongoing pattern in which people who test positive come from abroad, reflecting the fact that the pandemic has intensified in many parts of the world, Baker said.

This number of people testing positive at one time is manageable, but could become a problem if large numbers become seriously ill, he said.

“I think the bigger problem is the long-term pattern and that is that every time we import a person who is positive for this virus, that is an additional risk to our system.”

Over time, the risk accumulates, he said.

“Travelers from countries that have a very intense pandemic with a lot of transmission present, we must analyze the steps before they travel to New Zealand to reduce that risk.”

-additional reports, RNZ