Members of the Border Health Directorate did not know if Cape Verde was in Africa or Asia.
An event occurred in an Argentine port that before 2020 would have been one more anecdote, however, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and even more so with the appearance of a new, apparently more contagious variant, it is seen as a serious error of the health authorities.
The novelty began at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 26, when the MS Hamburg cruise ship – with 300 passengers, mostly German – was authorized to enter the Benito Quinquela Martín terminal in the port of Buenos Aires.
This authorization was given after complying with the protocol of the Border Health authorities, in which the captain has to previously inform which were the ports where the ship was moored, the number of passengers and their health status.
Everything went smoothly until 08:15 the next day, when an inspector from the Border Health Directorate -who went to the ship’s command bridge- began to discuss by phone with a colleague who was on land about the location. geographical location of the port where the MS Hamburg had previously been before docking in Buenos Aires.
“Boluda, this ship comes from Cape Verde, isn’t that in Africa?” The inspector asked while her partner assured her that Cape Verde I was in Asia, details the portal Infobae.
MS Hamburg had been in the Cape Verdean port of Praia, part of the Cape Verde archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Senegal, in North Africa. A witness to the discussion told the Argentine portal that after confirming that the port is in Africa, one of the officials said: “We sent each other a baton (mistake).”
Argentina has mandatory quarantine for those arriving from Africa
Once the error was discovered, the ship was quarantined, its disembarkation or boarding was prohibited and the 300 passengers and 170 crew members were ordered to confinement in cabins.
However, since the authorization to go ashore was issued, twelve hours passed, so he thought that some crew members and tourists may have come down to do tourism in Buenos Aires. In any case, it was reported that only a group of tourists heading to the Ezeiza airport on Saturday to return to their country had gotten off the ship; these were located and returned to the ship.
This Monday it was learned that a tourist on board had presented symptoms of COVID-19, but he was already isolated along with his family when the MS Hamburg arrived in Buenos Aires. The passenger is recovering favorably, although the variant of coronavirus he contracted is unknown.
The Health Directorate indicated that after learning of the case, it was ordered to swab the rest of the passengers as well as the crew, whose PCR tests were negative.
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In the midst of this the Government of Argentina ordered this Monday the mandatory quarantine for anyone who has been in Africa in the fourteen days prior to entering the South American country.
Any person who comes from or has been in the African continent in the last fourteen days prior to entering Argentina must inform it in an affidavit and must have completed the vaccination schedule two weeks before entering the country.
In addition, you must have a negative PCR test performed 72 hours before entering Argentina and perform an antigen test upon arrival in the South American country. Then you must quarantine and take a PCR test on the tenth day of the PCR test at source, which must be negative to complete the mandatory isolation.
Non-resident foreigners must add a COVID-19 health insurance, with coverage of hospitalization services, isolation and medical transfers. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
