July MFV Edinburgh voyage curtailed by Covid
Report by Administrator Steve Townsend on 21st July 2021
MFV Edinburgh arrived from Cape Town on Monday 19th July 2021 with six passengers aboard. All the passengers were tested for Covid-19 when the vessel arrived, and before any disembarkation started.
Two passengers tested positive. Further tests confirmed those results, and a number of the Edinburgh's crew also tested positive. In view of that, and the shortage of equipment to treat that number of cases on the island, it was decided that the Edinburgh should return to Cape Town immediately.
Before that happened, and following medical advice from here and Cape Town, the passengers who tested negative came ashore, and have now gone into isolation. These included two returning islanders. The barge crew who went out to off-load the passengers were wearing full PPE kit, and all the luggage brought ashore was cleaned down by the doctors and me. So all risks were reduced to the very minimum.
All four passengers have now tested negative on four occasions.
The island has now gone into isolation, as a precaution. The pub will be closed, and there will be no church services on Sunday. The shop is also closed, and anyone who wants purchase will have to contact the shop staff who will deliver it to their gate. We expect this isolation to last until 29th July (ie return to normality on 30th July).
We were not able to off-load any of our supplies from the Edinburgh, so we might face some shortages in the near future. We are working out rations at the moment.
Further updates will be made on the website in due course.