Faced with the need to establish guidelines for the timely detection of suspected COVID-19 cases in ports, limit the virus's spread and establish measures to be taken to identify suspected cases among passengers and crew transported by sea, the Sub-secretariat of Public Health developed the Protocol for the Detection of Suspected Cases of Covid-19 in Ports (Phase 4), contained in the Ministry of Health Regulation 962 and published in the Official Gazette on 19 November 2020.

Aims

The protocol aims to:

  • define actions for vessels requesting entry into the country or carrying out cabotage;
  • establish guidelines for the timely detection of COVID-19 in ports; and
  • determine the action to be taken in the face of suspected COVID-19 cases detected at ports.

The institutions that oversee the protocol are:

  • the Health Ministry;
  • the police;
  • shipping agencies;
  • the Directorate-General of Maritime and Merchant Marine Territory (Directemar);
  • the Emergency Medical Care Service;
  • the Regional Ministerial Secretariat;
  • the Agricultural and Livestock Service;
  • Customs; and
  • port companies.

The protocol describes each of the functions for which they must be responsible.

Procedures

The protocol distinguishes between procedures for vessels without suspicious cases and those with suspicious cases. In the latter case, if a passenger or crew member declares that they have a fever or signs of respiratory infection which has or has not been declared in the vessel's maritime declaration of health, a health commission will be constituted on the vessel to assess the conditions of the crew members and define the actions to be carried out in conjunction with the Regional Health Authority. If COVID-19 is suspected and the crew members' conditions are stable, samples will be taken from patients indicated by the Regional Health Authority on the same vessel. The suspected case will remain isolated in a unit defined for this purpose and which could be on the same vessel until the arrival of another vessel to transfer them to port.

If a patient must disembark due to health conditions, the Regional Health Authority will define the place of transfer, inform the shipping agency of the patient's condition and ask Directemar to coordinate the transfer to port.

Once the suspected party has been evacuated, the vessel will not pass through Customs, but will instead anchor in national waters until the case is confirmed or dismissed.

If the suspected crew member tests positive and has stable or mild health conditions, all other persons on board must quarantine with strict isolation measures and the vessel cannot continue its journey. If the vessel is unsuitable to carry out quarantine, the crew may request to be transferred to a health residence or place determined by the Regional Health Authority. The Ministry of Health's National Liaison Centre will notify the ship's destination country.

If no cases of COVID-19 are found on board, the vessel can continue on its journey as planned.

If a vessel is in anchorage, the Regional Health Authority will define the actions to be taken in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, in accordance with the crew's epidemiological conditions and Chile's infection rate.

When a vessel leaves a national port, the Ministry of Health's National Liaison Centre will inform the next international port that the vessel is set to visit of the crew's health conditions.

The protocol's contents and guidelines may be modified in accordance with epidemiological contingency.