Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has updated guidelines for ports and vessels amid COVID-19, clarifying the definition of close contact onboard a ship and the port area.
Under the detailed definition of ‘close contact’, if there are 30 crew members or fewer on the vessel, they are all considered closed contacts and subject to quarantine, according to Brazilian law firm Promare explaining an updated Technical Note by ANVISA.
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Either way, the ANVISA Technical Note states that if there is a possible or confirmed case of COVID-19 on a vessel coming from a foreign port, all the crew shall be tested. If there is a possible COVID-19 case, the vessel will be in quarantine for 14 days, but this quarantine can be lifted from the 10th day, provided that all crew members are tested negative with a PCR test.
The Technical Note leaves it open for the Authority to consider if the 14 days period will begin on the day that the sample for the test is collected on the day of the onset of the symptoms. Still, it states clearly that the 14 days period will restart if there is another case registered on board,
…Promare explains.
Meanwhile, a prohibition of shipping cruises and the restriction of seafarers sign-off remain in place, except for those related to repatriation and medical or dental assistance, under Ordinance No. 652 of January 25, 2021 and its updates.
In addition, on 14 May, ANVISA published Ordinance 653/2021 banning passenger flights from and with a passage in India, in line with similar bans imposed in South Africa and the UK.