VI CONSORTIUM
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, CMC – A reported surge in Covid-19 cases found among passengers traveling through the Road Town Ferry Dock in Tortola is being examined by BVI health officials.
According to BVI National Epidemiologist Harmony Massiah, several cases of the virus are coming through the Road Town Ferry Dock, and BVI health officials have been investigating predictive factors relative to persons traveling through said travel portal. Most Road Town Ferry Dock operations offer service between St. Thomas BVI, including Road Town Fast Ferry, Native Son, Inter-Island Ferry and others, according to BVI Welcome.
Massiah, who was speaking during a recent press conference said that there had been a surge in the number of reported cases in the BVI around May 15, and this was predominantly through cases that have been imported.
She added that the factors that caused the surge can be from any number of sources such as places of travel origin, passengers premixing before boarding, and traveling in an enclosed space, among other factors.
St. Thomas has been battling a recent surge in Covid-19, accounting for a vast majority of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ total cases. According to the V.I. Dept. of Health’s latest data as of May 27 showing 120 active cases, ten were confirmed on St. Croix, eight on St. John and 102 on St. Thomas.
Massiah, the BVI epidemiologist implored persons to maintain due diligence as a measure of mitigating the spread of the virus by wearing masks and social distancing.
“Even though you might be familiar with someone on the vessel, you should limit any talk or conversations you may have with them because you don’t exactly know what it is they may be harboring,” she encouraged.
Ferry operators required to number their seats
Meanwhile, ferry operators have been asked to adopt an additional measure to help with contact tracing. Massiah said operators have been asked to ensure that seats are numbered so persons can be easily contacted if they had been sitting near a person who is found to have been carrying the virus.
“We will treat it kind of like what we do with an [airplane] – two to three seats in front, two to three seats behind and at the sides,” she said while responding to a question on whether all ferry passengers must isolate if one tests positive.
Persons are also expected to indicate if they had spoken to anyone who is not in the bubble surrounding their immediate seating vicinity on the ferry so that they can also be quarantined.