3 Foreign Flag Ship Crew Confirmed COVID-19

Three crew members of a foreign-flagged ship are confirmed to have COVID-19 (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Port Health Office (KKP) Class II Balikpapan, East Kalimantan found three crew members of a foreign-flagged ship who were confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Head of the Port Health Office (KKP) Class II Balikpapan M Zainul Mukhorobin in Samarinda, Friday said that the results of the whole genome sequence (WGS) samples of three foreign nationals were positive and were sent to the Indonesian Ministry of Health Research and Development Center in Jakarta.

The Hong Kong-flagged MV Ocean Treasure was carrying a crew of 22 people with a cargo of coal.

"The results of the WGS are out, the results are Omicron and Delta with a total of 3 people," said Zainul, quoted from Antara, Saturday, February 5.

Zainul explained that the ship arrived in the waters of Adang Bay, Paser Regency to load coal, and health checks were also carried out on the ship's crew.

Quarantine for the crew of the Hong Kong-flagged ship was immediately carried out so as not to spread this new virus to the wider community.

"All crew members have been quarantined in Adang Bay, especially the three crew members confirmed by Omicron and Delta," said Zainul.

Zainul emphasized that his party did not want to be missed by the surge in COVID-19 cases in Balikpapan City, so that health protocols were tightened by requiring ships from abroad to show documents according to the Quarantine Act.

"All ships entering from abroad must be inspected at sea according to the Quarantine Act," he said.

He also asked ships that are in quarantine status to fly a yellow flag, and to carry out PCR examinations for their crew.

"It is mandatory to fly the yellow flag as a sign of quarantine status," he said.

Previously, Zainul continued, his party also found 11 crew members of the Sagar Moti ship that entered Balikpapan waters with confirmed COVID-19 of the Omicron variant, but all of the crew in question had tested negative for COVID-19 on January 29, 2022.