Chief Mailo crew and one passenger all test negative—Chief Mailo allowed to dock for reprovisioning
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- Category: News
- Published: Wednesday, 31 March 2021 05:20
- Written by Bill Jaynes
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Pohnpei Enginkehlap News
February 19, 2021
Pohnpei—On February 17, 2021, the Pohnpei State COVID-19 Task Force met and unanimously decided to conduct a re-test on all the MV Chief Mailo crewmembers and one passenger. The decision to conduct these tests were in response to a letter from President Panuelo to Governor Oliver to disembark one person from the MS Chief Mailo and bring in the vessel to provision and fuel.
The Task Force’s understanding of the MS Chief Mailo COVID-19 situation was that one POSITIVE case still remained on board. A joint medical report confirmed the POSITIVE test as a historical case, no other tests were conducted after that. Task Force Medical Advisor, Dr. Rally Jim, confirmed that while the historical case remains POSITIVE, a risk of infection, however small, still remained.
On the morning of February 18, 2021, Dr. Rally Jim presented 11 NEGATIVE test results for COVID-19 for the crew and passenger of the MS Chief Mailo. With this information, Governor Oliver instructed Pohnpei Port Authority (PPA) to accommodate President Panuelo’s request of provisioning and disembarkation of one person, an FSM National Government Employee, and with the advice of Dr. Jim provide for a 7-day quarantine period with two COVID-19 tests before and after the quarantine period.
In a letter to President Panuelo regarding Chief Mailo, Governor Oliver stated the following:
"The medical team for Pohnpei State Task Force was consulted and its recommendation was to reconsider doing one last test for the crew to be sure because if the person to disembark remains negative, consideration can be given subject to quarantine requirements. It is always good to err on the side of caution. The request was heeded and late yesterday our health staff conducted another test onboard. This morning the results of the lab tests were reported by the medical team. I am very thankful to inform you that what was reported turned out to be much more than what was expected.
With humility, I want to thank you for your patience, Mr. President. The details on how to handle the needed services for Chief Mailo so it can be provisioned and depart will be coordinated by our medical teams, our transportation, and port authority personnel in accordance with the established procedures."
The MS Chief Mailo is scheduled to dock and provision at Dekehtik harbor today, disembark the one individual who will be quarantined and then depart.
