A number of crew members on board of coal ship which docked at the ESB’s power generating station at Moneypoint yesterday have been hospitalised with suspect Covid-19.
The Maltese registered cargo ship ‘Nadine V’, which arrived at Moneypoint early on Tuesday morning, was met on arrival by National Ambulance Service paramedics after concern had been expressed that some crew members had displayed possible symptoms of the virus.
The 235-metre long bulk carrier departed Ust-Luga in Russia on March 15th and arrived off the Clare coast on Monday night. The ship remained anchored overnight about 20 kilometres southwest of Loop Head before mooring at Moneypoint shortly after 9.00am yesterday.
It’s understood the ship was met by National Ambulance Service and other HSE staff and that at least some of the 20-strong crew were assessed at the scene. It’s believed that at least two were initially transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
The ship remains moored and quarantined at Moneypoint.
The Department of Public Health Mid-West has said it does not comment on individual cases or outbreaks. To do so would breach our duty of confidentiality to both the individuals and organisations concerned.
In a statement this evening, a spokesperson said: “Maintaining this confidentiality is not only an ethical requirement for the HSE, it is also a legal requirement under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018.”
“Public Health Mid-West can, however, explain its role and function in the event of a COVID-19 situation at a workplace when it does arise.
Under legislation, all cases of notifiable infectious diseases, including COVID, are notified to the Department of Public Health.
Mid-West cases are notified nationally to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre electronically via the Computerised Infectious Diseases Database (CIDR).
The Department advises workplaces and all relevant stakeholders on the management of individual cases and the prevention and control of outbreaks.
Management of outbreaks and situations includes exclusion of staff who are infected or those identified as close contacts of cases, isolation of cases, and additional testing of staff may also be necessary, depending on the extent of an outbreak,” the statement said.
