The British Ports Association is calling for additional funding and support to be provided to UK local authority officials to prepare the country’s borders amid the coronavirus outbreak that shook the industry.
The British Health Secretary reported that the Coronavirus represents a “serious and imminent threat.”
Therefore, the UK is taking precautionary measures to protect the citizens from coronavirus. The port health authorities are responsible for developing health controls at seaports and airports and are tasked with preventing the introduction of dangerous epidemic diseases through shipping activity without creating unnecessary disruptions to world trade.
British Ports Association’s Chief Executive, Richard Ballantyne commented that
As an island nation, the ports sector is committed to maintaining the flow of the supply chain however we must also balance this with protecting our borders, maritime workers and the general public from the Wuhan Coronavirus. The risks are still low but local authorities need additional public support to devise their emergency plans in case the situation escalates.
It is added that the port health authorities play a major role in ensuring that the Coronavirus does not further spread to the UK via its ports and airports.
Although the government is planning to produce official guidance for the UK maritime sector, ports are liaising with their relevant public health and port health bodies.
For the time being, the port has on display posters that explain the symptoms of the Coronavirus at ports that handle passengers, Asian traffic and some safety and health precautions are being taken for maritime pilots boarding vessels that have travelled from China.
In addition, some UK port health authorities launched improved screening measures such as requesting Maritime Declarations of Health from vessels that have called at Chinese ports, interviewing crew and disseminating travel advice.
For the time being, the UK remains a low-risk country as it typically takes between 30-40 days to sail from China so any crew who develop the virus should do so in this time.
Mr Ballantyne highlights that ships are required to notify ports if any such developments occur and ports can see the last 10 calls a ship has made to assess risks. However if the virus spreads to Europe as is predicted local port health authorities will need to manage risks from shorter flights and sailings.
Concerning ports and how they deal with the outbreak, Wilhelmsen launched a live map presenting the port restrictions that have been issued by countries on a global scale.
While Port Health Authorities and their front line staff are doing a good job in the current climate we do however have some concerns that some would not have adequate resources to deal with the Wuhan Coronavirus should it spread.
As typical sailing times from China are 28-40 days the Department of Health and Social Care have said they expect crew to develop symptoms within this time if they have been infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus so they are focusing their attention on aviation travel at this time.
